The Healing Touch
by xpegasus
Summary: (My first fanfic ever, give me a chance.) All his life, Izuku had been ridiculed and bullied for two things; being born Quirkless, and his massive appetite (even though he never seemed to gain a pound.) His life turns upside down when meets his idol, All Might, and is finally given the chance to become a hero. But is Izuku as Quirkless he thinks? (Cross-posted on AO3)
1. The Beginning

**Disclaimer: I don't in any way, shape, or form own My Hero Academia, it is the property of Kohei Horikoshi, Shonen Jump, and Shueisha.**

 **Author's Note: This is my first ever fanfic, I really hope it goes well. Please leave a comment on your thoughts and feelings; it will really help keep me going.**

 **Edit: Revised and reposted on December 27, 2019.**

* * *

Here's the sad truth, not all men are born equal. That is what Izuku Midoriya learned at the tender age of four.

For his was a world where the supernatural was totally normal. People were born with uncanny abilities, called Quirks. The streets looked like scenes ripped straight from a comic book. Some people could breathe fire or levitate objects with their mind. Others had incredible strength or could shatter stone with their voice alone.

Izuku Midoriya was not one of those people.

He was weak.

He was useless.

He was Quirkless.

And when he was four years old, that was the harsh truth he was forced to learn.

He also learned that he ate a lot more than other people.

* * *

"Alright, alright, settle down," the teacher said as class began, and the students got in their seats. "As third-year students, you guys need to start to think seriously about your futures." He picked up a stack of papers off his podium. "Now, I could hand out these career aptitude tests, but" he threw the papers into the air with a flourish and a laugh "why bother? I know you're all aiming for the hero course!"

At that, the classroom erupted in absolute chaos. Students roaring wildly and showing off their Quirks like they were Kindergarteners.

All except for Izuku, who shrank into his desk while he munched on a granola bar. You're probably wondering why he's eating in class. Well, there's a very simple explanation for that; ever since he was a child, Izuku has possessed a monstrous appetite. He could eat three to four times as much food as some his size and age normally could, although he never seemed to gain a pound. His pediatrician chalked it up to an abnormally high metabolism. The other kids joked about his Quirk being a black hole for a stomach, but those stopped after that fateful doctor's appointment.

At first, his teachers tried to get Izuku to stop eating in class, but in the end, his growling, scratch that, his roaring and screaming stomach proved to be a bigger distraction than his snacking ever could, so they gave up and let him eat. So long as he did so quietly.

"Oh yeah, Midoriya, didn't you apply to UA as well?" the teacher said dispassionately.

'Oh no,' Izuku thought, nearly choking on his granola.

"Huh, you think can compete with me, you fat, Quirkless, nerd?!" Katsuki Bakugo, Izuku's childhood best friend, and current bully shouted as he jumped on the green-haired boy's desk. He went tumbling backward out of his chair as Bakugo set off explosions from his palms.

As usual, the teacher seemed content to stand by and let everyone take out their aggression on Izuku.

* * *

" _Don't even think of applying, or else."_

" _Just pray you'll be born with a Quirk in your next life, and take a swan dive off the roof."_

Bakugo's words still rang in Izuku's ears as he walked down the road, dejectedly eating another granola bar.

'Every day is the same; I try as hard as I can, but it's the same result every time,' Izuku thought as he approached a tunnel. 'Kacchan, my classmates, the teachers, even mom, none of them think I can do it. Maybe they're right; maybe I should just…' He suddenly stopped at the entrance to the tunnel.

'No.' Izuku thought as he clenched his fist in determination. 'I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't let anything or anyone hold me back. I will become a Hero!'

With a smile on his face, he entered the tunnel and let out a mighty laugh, unaware of the slime rising out of the utility hole he just passed.

* * *

" _I'm sorry, but without a Quirk, you can't become a Hero."_

Izuku walked forward in a daze, completely unaware of where he was or where he was going, but he didn't care. His dream of becoming had been crushed by his idol, the man Izuku had looked up above everyone else; All Might.

He couldn't really blame the Hero for what he'd said, risking your life to protect others was a dangerous line of work. No one got out of it unscathed, not even All Might, the Number 1 Hero, and Symbol of Peace.

But even so…it hurt, hurt so much in a way Izuku couldn't even begin to describe.

His steps were brought to a halt as the sounds of shouts and fighting brought Izuku out of his stupor.

'Heroes,' Izuku thought as he absentmindedly looked up. 'Must be a Villain attack, guess I walked here subconsciously.' He saw Kamui Woods and Death Arms, two of the Heroes he saw this morning.

'What am I even doing here? My notes are useless; there's nothing I can do.' Even so, Izuku was compelled to get a better look; he got closer to see- no. No, it couldn't be. 'Th-that's the slime guy All Might caught earlier, what's he doing here?' A horrifying realization struck Izuku; the bottle, the soda bottle All Might trapped him in must have fallen out of the Hero's pocket when Izuku grabbed his leg.

'This is my fault,' Izuku couldn't stop shaking. 'If I hadn't gotten in his way, then none of this would have happened.' The young boy was on the verge of tears. He looked to see the Heroes trying to get closer to the villain. And when he took a closer look at the amorphous villain he saw-

"Kacchan!" He cried out at the sight of his childhood friend being smothered by the villain.

At that moment, something happened to Izuku that he couldn't explain. He saw Bakugo, the boy who had bullied him endlessly since they were children, trapped in the wet, disgusting, suffocating grip of the villain. He saw the fear and desperation in the blond boy's eyes.

Before he even realized what was happening, Izuku was running. Running towards the villain, towards the danger.

Towards someone who needed help.

* * *

"Young man, you CAN become a Hero!"

Izuku felt overwhelmed. Tears born from overwhelming shock, and joy poured from his eyes.

All Might, his idol, and inspiration, the man who had so cruelly and carelessly crushed his dream, was here to give what he needed most; hope.

"Your actions inspired me to move, and you reminded me what it means to be a hero," All Might said, his baggy clothes hanging off him like drapes. "I deem you worthy of becoming my successor, my Quirk is yours to inherit."

And, like someone turning off a faucet, Izuku's tears were brought a dead stop.

"Huh?" was all he could manage. Izuku looked up at his idol like the blond man had inexplicably grown a second head and started singing opera; honestly, considering the day he'd had, Izuku wouldn't have been surprised if that did happen.

"But-but-but that doesn't make sense, you can't give someone a Quirk, it's impossible. I mean, well, it's never been proven you can't give someone a Quirk, so I guess it's possible, but the implications…" At that point, Izuku had started muttering and rambling to himself and was so deep in thought he'd pretty much shut out the entire world around him.

Quite frankly, it was freaking All Might out. 'What the hell is with this kid?'

As the green-haired boy continued to ramble on with no sign of stopping, All Might decided to put an end to it. He took in a deep breath and prepared to shout, when suddenly-

*GRRRRRR*

-he was cut out by Izuku's growling stomach.

Clutching his stomach with his face bright red, Izuku went dead quiet.

"Geez," All Might said, smiling. "Sounds like you're pretty hungry. Tell you what, how about we find someplace to eat, and we talk this whole thing over?" He held out his hand to the kneeling boy.

Izuku was about to say something, but-

*GRRRRRR*

-he was cut off by his own stomach. He merely nodded and took the hero's hand.

* * *

It had taken a little while, but the duo had found a small and quiet café called 'Ginko's' and gotten a secluded booth at the back of the restaurant. The menu had a little bit of everything.

All Might had gotten a tuna salad and bacon sandwich with cottage cheese.

Izuku had gotten… everything.

Okay, he didn't order every item on the menu, but it was way more than All Might thought humanly possible to eat in a single setting.

He was proven dead wrong; All Might could only stare in some strange combination of fascination, horror, disgust, awe, and envy as Izuku wolfed down a bowl of ramen after polishing off a plate of fried chicken and was preparing to move on to a bowl of curry.

After finishing off the ramen and putting the bowl down, Izuku finally noticed All Might's rather…intense gaze. He got very red and shrunk into himself. "Sorry, I know watching me eat can be disturbing, to say the least," Izuku found himself looking down at his hands instead of up at All Might. "You can move to another table if you want."

"No, no, no, it's fine," All Might as said rather nervously. "It's my fault for staring; I'm sorry for making you feel uneasy Young Midoriya." All Might glanced down at half-eaten sandwich and rubbed the back of his neck. "Honestly, I'm a little jealous; my days of scarfing down huge meals are long behind me," his eyes drifted to the left side of his abdomen before returning to Izuku, a kind smile of his face. "But seeing you eat with a big grin on your face, I'm not sure why, but it makes me feel better about my situation." Despite everything, seeing Izuku happy filled All Might with a strange, warm feeling he couldn't identify.

Izuku was stunned by All Might's words; people had always said the way he ate was 'horrible,' 'disgusting,' 'sickening,' and 'just plain wrong.' Hearing those words, Izuku couldn't help but beam at his idol; All Might smiled back.

"Anyway, we're not here to talk about how much you can eat," All Might began before he cut himself off. The Pro Hero craned his neck to make sure no one was within earshot of them. When he was satisfied, he leaned forward and spoke in a whisper. "We're here to talk about you inheriting my Quirk."

Izuku leaned forward with his bowl of curry in hand. "I still don't get it. How can you give me your Quirk? That doesn't seem possible."

"I understand your skepticism," All Might said. "From what I saw of your journal, you've got quite a passion for studying Quirks."

Izuku laughed nervously, a little embarrassed.

"When my mentor told me what I'm telling you, I thought it was some kind of sick joke," All Might explained.

"Your mentor?" Izuku asked, a spoonful of curry halfway to his mouth.

"Yes." All Might brought his curled fist up to his chest. "My Quirk is a sacred torch that has been passed down from mentor to student since the emergence of Quirks. It is the crystallization of each previous user's power; its name,"

Izuku felt as if All Might was gazing upon his very soul; his eyes held an intensity that seemed to lock the boy in place.

"One for All."

Though quiet, the way All Might spoke those three words held a power Izuku couldn't explain.

"One for All," the green-haired boy parroted. Suddenly, a thought struck him. "Hold on, if you mentor had One for All too, why haven't I heard of them? Wouldn't they be as powerful and famous as you?"

"Not quite," All Might said, holding up a finger. "One for All grows in power with every wielder, and I am the eighth person to bear this Quirk. I am stronger than my predecessor, and she was stronger than hers, and you, Young Midoriya, will be stronger than me."

Izuku could only sit back and munch his food in contemplation, his eyes wide and wandering.

All Might let the green-haired boy think for a moment before he spoke. "I know it's a lot to take in, and I would never force One for All upon you. You don't have to decide now, but if you accept, meet me at Dagobah Municipal Beach Park one week from today, 5:00 am sharp."

" _A PHONE CALL IS HERE!"_

Izuku and All Might nearly jumped out of their skin at the sudden sound.

" _A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE!"_

Izuku went scrambling for his phone is the Official All Might Ringtone blasted out of it, he didn't even notice All Might reaching into his own pocket.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Izuku said in panic while his face went red as his shoes. "It's my mom- I mean my phone- I mean my mom calling my phone." He finally got his thumb on the answer button and held his phone to his ear. "Hello?"

" _IZUKU!"_

He was not prepared for the volume of his mother's voice and had to hold the phone away from his ear.

" _Where are you!? I just saw the news- I saw Katsuki, and fire, and-and-and- please tell me you're okay!"_

"Mom, don't worry, I'm fine," Izuku said in a desperate attempt to calm his mother down.

" _But where are you? Why aren't you home?"_

"I'm at a café called Ginko's. After the police took villain into custody, I came here with A-" Izuku cut himself before he could finish that sentence.

" _Izuku? Izuku, who are you eating with?"_

Izuku's body shook as he tried desperately to think of what to say. 'I-I can't just tell her that I'm eating with All Might; but I can't just lie and say I'm by myself, she'd see right through it.'

" _You're scaring me, Izuku, please, just tell me what's wrong."_

Izuku was now sweating bullets, paralyzed with fear over what to say. 'What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I-'

It was then he noticed All Might, motioning him to hand over the phone. Completely overwhelmed by the situation, he decided to go along with it, even though he had no idea how All Might would handle this.

"A-a-actually, he wants to talk to you; I'll hand you off to him right now."

All Might took the phone and cleared his throat. "Hello, Mrs. Midoriya, it's wonderful to talk to you."

" _Who-who are you? More importantly, how old are you, and why are you taking my son out to eat."_

"My name is Toshinori Yagi; I'm All Might's secretary."

'All Might's secretary?' Izuku thought.

" _All Might's…secretary?"_

"Yes ma'am," All Might, or rather Toshinori Yagi, spoke calmly and collectively. "I was at the scene of the incident when All Might saved that young blond boy. Your son saw me speaking with All Might and started firing off questions. We both got hungry, and I offered to get him something to eat."

" _Oh, thank goodness."_ The relief in Inko Midoriya's voice was palpable. _"I was so worried. I'm glad to know my little boy's okay."_

'Mom, why are you like this,' Izuku thought. He loved his mother dearly. She was his whole world, and he was Inko's whole world. But while her fears and worries were, admittedly, not unfounded, it could feel overwhelming at times.

" _If it's not too much trouble, could you bring him home soon?"_

All Might smiled. "Of course, I'll have Young Midoriya home, safe and sound."

" _Oh, and I'll, uh, I can pay you back for whatever you spent on Izuku, Mr. Yagi."_ There a nervous tremor in Inko's voice that wasn't there before.

"It's not trouble, ma'am," All Might said with a chuckle. "Your son has been wonderful company; you don't need to give me a single Yen."

" _Are you sure? I know Izuku has a… bigger appetite than most boys his age. You probably weren't expecting to spend so much on him."_

"Truly it's no problem; being the secretary to the No. 1 Hero comes with quite a few perks, which includes a rather large paycheck. I could do this every day for a month it would barely put a dent in my budget."

" _Alright then, thank you very much, Mr. Yagi. Can you please hand me back to my son?"_

"Of course," he said as he handed back the phone to Izuku.

"Mom?" the boy said, taking his phone back.

" _Okay, Izuku, I'll see you soon. Remember to thank Mr. Yagi for the meal."_

"Okay. Bye, mom."

" _Bye, sweetheart."_

With that, Izuku ended the call. He looked at All Might for a moment, and All Might looked back; they let out breaths neither were aware they'd been holding and slumped in their seats.

"Holy crap, that was that scary," Izuku said, breathless. Despite the solid decade of bullying Izuku had lived through, the few seconds between handing his phone to All Might had probably been the most terrifying and nerve-wracking experience in his young life.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but is that your real name?" Izuku asked tentatively.

"Hm, yes, it's my real name," All Might said before taking a sip of water.

Izuku looked down at the empty bowl that used to be full of curry. "I'm sorry you had to tell my mom."

"Actually, I thought up the whole 'All Might's secretary' cover years ago. It's pretty convenient," All Might said reassuringly. "I tell people all the time, so you've got nothing to be sorry for, especially not a caring mother. She just worries about you, and with the way you dive headfirst into danger, I'm not surprised," All Might said with a chuckle while Izuku grumbled in embarrassment. "Are you almost done?"

The boy nodded and motioned to his three remaining dishes.

"Alright, I'll grab the check, and then we'll get going." All Might called the waitress over, a woman with four arms and five eyes, and paid while Izuku went to work on some Yakisoba.

* * *

"Again, thank you so much for taking care of Izuku," Inko said as she bowed rather profusely to All Might, although that was unbeknownst to her. "You're sure I can't pay you back?"

"Thank you for the kind offer. Mrs. Midoriya, but I can't take your money," All Might said, standing outside the doorway to the Midoriyas' apartment. "It was a pleasure to meet both you and your son. That's all the compensation I need."

Inko smiled at the tall, blond man. "Oh, you're too kind, Mr. Yagi."

Izuku, standing next to his mother, nodded in agreement. "Thank you so much for answering my question. I learned a lot about All Might's agency with you."

"You're welcome. It was a joy talking with someone so passionate about heroics." All Might pulled out his phone and checked the time. "Well, I'd best get going. Goodnight, Young Midoriya, Mrs. Midoriya." Toshinori bowed and started walking off as the Midoriyas said goodbye.

But he was suddenly back and was frantically searching through his pockets. "Almost forgot- where is it? Where is it?" With a sigh of relief, he pulled out a couple of business cards and handed them to Izuku and Inko. "If you ever want to talk."

With that, Toshinori Yagi, better known as the No. 1 Hero, All Might, was off.

Although neither of them knew it, Izuku and All Might had started something more magnificent than either could ever imagine.

* * *

 **AN: Holy Crap! I can't believe I did it; I finished the first chapter of my first fanfic! All 3,200 words of it. I've got to be honest, with college and other stuff going on in my life, I'm not sure how consistent I'm going to be with updates, but I'm going to try my damned hardest to see this thing through to the end!**

 **If you want to stick around, expect future chapters to be of similar length to this first chapter.**

 **Please leave a review; it'll really help keep me going, the more detailed, the better.**

 **Anyways, stay awesome and have a beautiful day!**


	2. The Discovery

**AN:**

 **Okay, chapter 2, I hope you like; I'm really proud of this one.**

 **Please leave a comment if you feel inclined, I love feedback, and they'll help keep me motivated.**

* * *

Izuku was prepared for a lot of things when All Might said him he was going to turn him into the next Symbol of Piece. Of course, he had to bulk up; he was goddamn string bean for Pete's sake.

However, that list did not include HAULING GARBAGE OFF A BEACH WITH HIS BARE HANDS.

Drenched in sweat, his muscles aching, burning and screaming like there was no tomorrow, Izuku collapsed onto the pavement. 'Oh god, I want to die. End my suffering,' was the only thought coursing through Izuku's mind.

"Good work out there! An excellent first day of training," All Might said with a proud smile as he looked down at the exhausted boy.

"Kill…me…" Was all Izuku managed to wheeze out.

'Geez, this kid's in worse shape than I thought,' All Might thought as he kneeled down next to him. "Well, I could do that, or I could take you take you to Ginko's."

After a moment, Izuku slowly and painfully lifted his arm off the pavement. "Gin…ko's…"

"That's the spirit!" The booming voice of All Might's Hero Form reverberated across the beach as he picked up the green haired boy and threw him in his rented pickup truck.

* * *

Back in his true form, Toshinori sat across from Izuku in the same booth at Ginko's they'd sat at last week, and was still amazed at the amount of food the kid could pack away. His one plate of pork and vegetable yakisoba seemed pretty pitiful compared to the six plates of food Izuku had in front of him.

Izuku put down the bowl of katsudon he'd just finished and gave Toshinori the brightest smile he could muster. "Thanks for bringing me here again, Yagi."

"Well, I've got to keep you fed, Young Midoriya. If you want those muscles you'll need to start eating more than you're used to," Toshinori explained.

"Oh, that reminds me," Izuku said as pulled out the 'ALL AMERICAN DREAM PLAN' Toshinori had given. "Are you sure I'll be ready for the Entrance Exam if I follow this?"

"Honestly, I'm not quite sure," Toshinori said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, I'll have you ready for UA's Entrance Exam, guaranteed. But with how much food your body needs, it'll be a bit of trial and error before we have a finalized plan." He pointed to the paper Izuku was holding. "What you're holding is more of a tentative schedule, not the final plan."

Izuku nodded and dug back into his food.

"Oh, almost forgot!" Toshinori exclaimed as he went rummaging through his pockets while Izuku gave him a perplexed stare. He pulled out a stack of Yen and slid them over the boy. "This is for you."

"Eh-EH!" Izuku screamed, nearly choking on his food. The other diners sent varied looks his way, a mixture of glares, looks of worry, and surprise. Izuku, with a rather abashed look on his face, looked at the other patrons and mouthed an apology.

He turned back to Toshinori with wide, disbelieving eyes. "B-but why are you-why could you-I can't just-" At that moment, Izuku's brain short-circuited and he started talking in circles. He just kept going and going and going; there was no end in sight to his ramblings.

It was, quite frankly, freaking Toshinori the FUCK out. After a good 30 seconds of this, he finally decided to put a stop to it.

"JESUS CHRIST, KID! WILL YOU SHUT UP?" Toshinori screamed at the top of his lungs.

While it did have the desired effect of essentially restarting Izuku's brain, he had also drawn the ire of the rest of restaurant. Toshinori looked around sheepishly, the other patrons giving him death glares and odd looks. Red in the face, he apologized and turned back to Izuku.

"Do not misunderstand me, Young Midoriya," Toshinori began. "This isn't meant to be a present; it's grocery money. With your training and conditioning, you'll need to eat even more than you do currently, and I don't wish to burden your family with an even larger food bill. It's my responsibility as your mentor to do this for you."

Izuku stared at Toshinori with starry-eyes before he gave an affirmative nod and took the money. "Thank you, All-I mean- thank you, Yagi."

They smiled at each other for a moment before a thought struck Izuku. "Hold on," he said quizzically as he looked the wad of Yen in his left hand. "How am I going to explain this extra money to my mom?"

Toshinori was silent for a moment, and then he quite literally exploded.

"GODDAMNIT, I HADN'T THOUGHT OF THAT!" He screamed with an accompanying spray of blood gushing from his mouth.

A pair of fists slammed down on the table, and the two jumped back in shock. It was the same waitress who had served them last time. Her name tag read 'Ume,' and she was pissed off.

"Do I need to kick the two of you out." Theoretically, that was supposed to be a question; it wasn't. It was a threat.

"N-no, ma'am," Frantically exclaimed Toshinori.

"We'll behave," Izuku said tearfully.

In the blink of an eye, Ume's face went from demonic and intimidating, to sweet and cheerful. "Great," she said, her voice chipper and a smile on her face.

"I think I just saw my life flash before my eyes," Izuku said as slumped into his seat in a cold sweat.

"You and me both, kid." Toshinori crossed his arms over his chest. "We still need a way to explain the extra money to your mom."

He sat contemplatively while Izuku…ate contemplatively.

Suddenly, like lightning, they looked at each other, struck by the same idea.

* * *

"A job?" Inko asked, sitting across from Toshinori, her son between them.

"Yes, I want to offer Young Midoriya a position as my assistant," Toshinori explained. "Really, it would be more of a mentorship. He's a very bright and dedicated young man who would be an asset to anyone he works for; it would also provide valuable life experience going forward into high school and beyond."

To say Inko was surprised would be an understatement. Just a week ago this man walked into her and her son's lives after a chance meeting, and now he wanted to offer her son a job.

Don't get her wrong, Toshinori seemed like a very nice man to her; he was polite (if a bit awkward,) earnest, and genuinely appeared to like Izuku. But she couldn't shake the feeling that something was… off, might be the best way to put it.

"What exactly would Izuku be doing for you?" she asked.

"Young Midoriya would be my personal assistant, a gofer if you will," Toshinori explained. "He would run errands, deliver documents, and get coffee; those sorts of thing."

Toshinori felt very warm and genuine to her that he genuinely liked her son and wanted to take Izuku under his wing. It was incredible to finally find someone, anyone who saw past Izuku's lack of a Quirk to see her son for himself. But Inko couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't seeing the whole picture.

"Well…I'm not sure," Inko said. "Izuku's so busy with school, and I want him to get into a good high school, and-"

"Please, mom," Izuku pleaded with his hands clasped in front of him.

Inko, stunned at Izuku's boldness, gazed at her son and Toshinori as they looked at her expectantly.

"Izuku," she spoke softly. "You really want to do this?"

The green haired boy nodded. "More than anything," he said with the brightest smile he could muster.

And that's what broke her. She couldn't do. Inko couldn't sit here and crush her son's dreams like…like before. Like what had come to be the biggest regret of her life.

She sighed and sank into her chair before offering up a smile to Izuku and Toshinori.

"Alright, Izuku, you can take the job."

"WAHOO!" Izuku quite literally jumped for joy. He started talking animatedly with Toshinori as Inko watched on.

Seeing her son happy like this, really, truly happy, was what gave Inko's life meaning. That smile on Izuku's filled her heart with a type of happiness that was hard to put into words.

'I can't believe I was worried,' Inko thought as she got to prepare dinner. She offered Toshinori a chance to stay for dinner which he gladly accepted. 'I'm just too used to it; I'm sure this will great for Izuku.'

Inko decided to chalk her misgiving up to years of nonstop fretting over her son. Besides, what's the worst that could happen to the assistant to a secretary?

* * *

It had been just over a month since Izuku had begun training with All Might, and he was getting…better, to say the least. All Might hadn't been expecting any miracles, but it still shocked him at how much a twig Izuku was when they began. Despite that, All Might couldn't help but smile at the boy as hefted a microwave off the beach.

Izuku panted as the sun rose high into the sky above them.

"You're doing great, kid," All Might said as he ran over to Izuku. He gave the boy a firm pat on the back. Izuku gave him a worn out grin back. "We'll break for lunch in an hour, okay?

'Lunch,' Izuku though dreamily at the mention of the word. He vigorously shook his head. 'I can't get distracted; I've still got a lot do.'

"Okay!" Izuku shouted with an affirmative nod.

"Excellent, and in the meantime," All Might said as he reached into his pockets and pulled out half a dozen bars wrapped in brightly colored foil. "Energy bars. Can't work out when you're collapsed on the ground."

Izuku greedily snatched them out of All Might's hands and started devouring the first bar wrapped in blue foil. "Thank you, All Might, thank you; I'll get back to work right now!" Izuku said as he stuffed the balled up wrapper in his pocket and ran back to the beach.

All Might chuckled as he watched Izuku workout with an energy bar hanging halfway out of his mouth. 'This kid's something else,' he thought as pulled out an energy bar wrapped in red foil for himself. 'And watching him eat makes me hungry.'

Toshinori had noticed he had more of an appetite that past month, and while he couldn't wolf down food like he used to, it was great to finally be able to keep down more than a few bites of food at a time.

* * *

Cameras flashed, and reporters shouted as everyone and their mother crowded behind a line of police tape as five villains were loaded into a police van.

A cacophony of people shouting "ALL MIGHT" nearly drowned out the No. 1 Hero's conversation with the police officer. After saying goodbye to the officers and giving a wave to the cameras, All Might leaped into the air. He landed on top of a secluded, and after a quick scan to make sure nobody was around, he deflated in a cloud of steam.

"Goddamn it," he exclaimed as stretched his aching muscles.

'I used up all my time in one go, can't seem to catch a break,' he thought as reached for his phone. 'Let's see how far it is to the train station; maybe I can make in time to-'

His train of thought was brought to an abrupt halt as finally saw the time.

3:15 PM

All Might's body shook as he stared at the screen, nearly dropping his phone to the ground.

"No, fucking, way."

* * *

"15 MINUTES!" Toshinori screamed as he sat on an examination table in his underwear. "I GAINED 15 MINUTES!"

"I heard you the first time," Recovery Girl said, rather annoyed. "And just because it's after hours, it doesn't mean you get to yell at the top of your lungs."

Toshinori shrank into himself and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "S-sorry."

Recovery Girl sighed as she went looked at the results of Toshinori's tests. "So, you're absolutely sure your time limit has increased?"

"As I said, I transformed at noon, on the dot, and didn't change back until 3:15. Even if I was off by a couple of minutes, I know for a fact my time limit still increased."

Her eyes scanned her clipboard. "Well, that makes sense. You're healthier overall since the last time I saw you; your weight's increased, your blood cell count is up, and you aren't _as_ deficient in vitamins and minerals as you were before."

Toshinori smirked. "You're not calling me fat, are you?"

Recovery Girl raised her cane to smack him.

"AH! I'm sorry, sorry!" Toshinori hastily apologized. He sighed in relief as she lowered her cane and looked back at the chart in her hands. "Look, I'm not complaining about being healthier, but I just want to know why."

"Clearly you've made some change to your routine that's having a positive impact on your health," Recovery Girl said before she looked up at Toshinori. "Whatever it is, keep it up. At this rate, you'll start to resemble a healthy human being in a few months."

"But that's the thing," the blond man began as he leaned forwards. "I haven't changed anything. My routine's the same as it's always been."

"And by 'routine,' you mean being stupid, overworking yourself, and doing a shit job of taking care of yourself in general?"

Toshinori didn't have a response for that.

"People don't just become healthier out of nowhere," she said as she went to her computer. "Think hard, All Might; you've clearly been doing something new or different, even if you haven't realized it."

"I'm honest to god trying to think of something, but I…" Toshinori voice trailed off as realization slowly dawned on his face.

Recovery Girl raised an eyebrow at the tall man.

"Young Midoriya," Toshinori exclaimed, his voice barely a whisper.

"Huh?" she said, befuddled.

* * *

It was a clear, warm Saturday morning as Izuku jogged to Dagobah Municipal Beach Park, ready to start his training for the day. It was quiet; the only sounds were the chirping of birds and his own footsteps. Slowly, the beach came into view, and alongside it was Toshinori standing next to his truck, waiting for him.

"All Might!" Izuku cried out as broke into a run.

Toshinori turned and waved at him. "Young Midoriya, good morning."

He came into a stop in front of the No. 1 Hero, panting slightly. "I'm ready to go; what do you want me to start with?" Izuku said as he looked around animatedly.

"Actually," Toshinori said, catching Izuku off guard. "We're doing something different today." He pointed his thumb at the truck. "Hop in, and we'll get going."

Confused, Izuku's only response was an "Okay" as he climbed into the passenger seat. Toshinori started up the car, and they were off.

As Toshinori drove, it wasn't long before Izuku felt his eyelids grow heavy and he fell asleep. He wasn't sure how long he slept, but Izuku was awoken by a hand rocking him back and forth.

"Hey, kid, we're here."

Izuku slowly opened his eyes, yawned, and stretched. As rubbed the sleep out his eyes, Izuku looked out the windshield to see-

"UA!" He screamed in shock as the school of his dreams towered over him. Izuku was so surprised he didn't even notice Toshinori had gotten out of the car until he opened the passenger door for him.

"What are you waiting for? Come on," Toshinori said, bringing Izuku back to reality.

"R-right," Izuku scrambled out of the car as fast he could, closing the door behind him.

"Here," Toshinori said as he pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Izuku. The object was a lanyard with a card that read "UA Guest Pass" attached to it. "You'll need to put this on to get into the school."

Izuku put it on without a word and followed Toshinori to the school's gate. There, as Toshinori continued forward, Izuku stopped dead in tracks. He looked upon the massive building in awe, its polished windows glimmering in the daylight.

'This…this is incredible,' Izuku thought as his mind raced with the names of countless Pro Heroes who called UA High their alma mater. 'I'm actually going to step inside UA.' With his body shaking with a combination of nerves and excitement, Izuku finally mustered the resolve and stepped beyond the gate and onto the grounds of UA.

It was then and there that Izuku let out a yell of pure fanboyish joy.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" His mouth seemed to switch to autopilot while his body quite started vibrating with excitement, overwhelmed by what was happening.

'I can't believe it! This is really happening; I'm standing inside UA! This is a dream come, true I-' Izuku's train of thought was brought to an abrupt halt when he finally noticed Toshinori standing at the door with a huge, somewhat mischievous grin on his face. The green haired boy bolted for the front door to stand next to his mentor.

Izuku turned bright red with embarrassment as rubbed the back of his neck, all the while that grin never left the blond man's face.

"S-sorry, All Might," Izuku muttered.

"It's fine, Young Midoriya," Toshinori said as he opened the door and walked inside, Izuku following him. "To tell you the truth, I had a pretty similar reaction my first time here. I'll never forget the first time I laid eyes on this place."

Still red in the face, Izuku couldn't help but smile at his mentor's words.

After that, the two walked in silence through the halls, Izuku taking in everything he could. He noted the, quite frankly, obscenely large doors the school had and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at them.

'Must be for students with Mutant Quirks that make them really big,' Izuku thought absentmindedly.

They eventually reached a normal sized door. Toshinori knocked, and a voice said, "Come in." He opened the door to reveal UA's nurse's office and said nurse was sitting at her desk.

She turned in her swivel chair to look at her guests. "Good morning, All Might. How are you?" she said with a smile.

'WHAT!' Izuku thought as he went white as a sheet and stiff as a board.

"It's okay, Young Midoriya," Toshinori said as he placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "She knows about One for All and myself."

Izuku instantly relaxed at Toshinori's words, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Toshinori coughed lightly to get Izuku's attention and gestured to the nurse. "Young Midoriya, I'd like to introduce you to a friend and colleague of mine-"

"Recovery Girl!" Izuku said, interrupting Toshinori. "You're the Youthful Heroine: Recovery Girl," he offered a shallow bow before continuing. "It's an honor to meet you, ma'am! I've read all about you."

"Now, now, there's no need to bow," Recovery Girl said as she hopped off her chair. She walked over to Izuku and offered a hand. "And you must be Izuku Midoriya; you're such a polite young man. It's no wonder All Might picked you as his successor."

Izuku blushed at Recovery Girl's kind words. "T-thank you."

"Now," Recovery Girl said as she pointed her cane at one of the examination tables. "I'll need you strip down to your underwear, and we can get started."

"I'm sorry, what?" Izuku blinked in surprise while Toshinori and Recovery Stared at him. "Hold on, I'm confused; what are we doing here exactly?"

There was a beat, silence, and then-

"GODDAMNIT, I FORGOT!" Toshinori screamed in a spray of blood.

"Idiot," Recovery Girl smacked the back of his head with her cane. "Why didn't you tell him why you brought him here?"

"I meant to, I really did," Toshinori explained defensively. "I was going to tell him during the drive over, but then he fell asleep, and I didn't want to wake him up, and when we got here-"

"Stop!" Recovery Girl snapped. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath, then turned to Izuku. "I'm so sorry for All Might, Midoriya; he can be a real dunderhead at times."

Toshinori was about to retort, but a quick glare from Recovery Girl shut him up.

"Anyway, we're just here to do a physical, check your vitals, and see how your training's been going," Recovery Girl said with a smile.

"Okay, but…please don't laugh," Izuku said with a bright red face.

Toshinori and Recovery Girl were perplexed by his statement until he undressed to reveal his All Might boxers beneath his shorts.

Recovery Girl took it in stride; she'd seen her fair share of students in licensed Pro Hero underwear.

Toshinori, on the other hand, was busy bent over wheezing and clutching his sides at the sight of his apprentice's choice in undergarments. "Oh my god, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't even know they made them for kids your age," he managed to squeeze out through his fit of laughter.

Recovery Girl gave him a swift hit with her cane and a disapproving glare and then got to work on giving Izuku his physical.

After checking Izuku's height, weight, and vitals, Recovery Girl sat in her chair, clipboard in hand. "All in all, you're a very healthy young man," she said as she looked over her notes.

Izuku smiled awkwardly. "Thank you."

"And All Might says you have quite the appetite."

"Yes."

"And that you're Quirkless."

Izuku said nothing as he stared down at his feet, downcast.

"Oh, I'm so sorry dear," Recovery Girl said regretfully as she realized her mistake. "I can't believe I said that so carelessly; please forgive me if I hurt you."

"No, it's fine," Izuku's voice was small and somber. "I've had to live with it since I was four. I'm used to it."

"Still, this world can be a cruel place for people who are different; first it was people with Quirks, and now it's people without them," Recovery Girl walked over to him with sympathetic eyes. "I can't imagine what it was like when they called with the tests results."

"Test results?" Izuku said, confused.

Recovery Girl raised an eyebrow at him. "The results of the lab tests, to determine if you had a Quirk or not?"

"Well, they didn't have to call, they showed me and my mom the X-Ray-"

"Wait," Recovery Girl said, a dangerous edge to her voice. "Are you telling me that all they did, the only thing they did, was take an X-Ray of your foot to look for the superfluous joint? They didn't take a blood or saliva sample to perform a gene test?"

At this point, she was literally shaking with rage.

Izuku nervously turned to Toshinori and mouthed 'help,' but all the tall man did was shrug.

"Uhm…yes," Izuku squeaked.

For a moment, Recovery Girl was completely still, the rage gone from her form-

"THOSE IDIOTS!"

-until she threw her clipboard against the ground with a scream of unadulterated hate and fury.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY LET THIS HAPPEN! WHAT'S THIS WORLD COMING TOO IF DOCTORS WON'T DO THEIR JOBS?! I SWEAR, IF I GET MY HANDS ON WHOEVER X-RAYED YOU I'LL RING THEIR-"

"Excuse me."

Recovery Girl came down from her rage to see Izuku and Toshinori literally quaking fear. Izuku had his hand raised, as if to ask a question.

"I-I'm a little confused; why are you so upset?" Izuku said.

Recovery Girl sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Let me explain; while having the superfluous pinky joint means you are less likely to develop a Quirk, it doesn't guarantee it. An estimated 30% of people with the joint develop a Quirk, and an estimated 5% of people without the joint are Quirkless."

She walked over to pick up her cracked clipboard and picked it up. "To think, they didn't even consider doing a gene test. They should be arrested for malpractice and their licenses revoked."

"Well, even if that is true, I'm pretty sure they were right," Izuku spoke somberly. "I tried, and tried as hard as I could when I was a kid, but I couldn't do anything close to my parents' Quirks."

He looked down at his feet, focusing in on his pinky toes. "I really am Quirkless."

The room was awkwardly silent for a moment before Toshinori spoke. "Actually, I'm not so sure."

He walked over to Izuku, a serious expression on his face. "Young Midoriya, do remember the day we met when I told you about my three-hour time limit?"

Izuku nodded.

"My boy, since I met you and started training you, my time limit has increased by 15 minutes, and I have become healthier overall; I believe that it is because of you; that you do have a Quirk."

Izuku could stare at him in stunned silence, agape at what he'd said.

* * *

Hours later, Inko was busy preparing dinner in the Midoriya family's kitchen. Taking care of a child with as massive an appetite as Izuku wasn't easy, but seeing the food she made bring a smile to her son's face made it all worth it.

She glanced up at the clock and noticed the late hour. 'Izuku should have been home by now. Is his job keeping him out?' Inko's lips pressed into a thin line, while she certainly like Mr. Yagi, working for him made Izuku happy, she couldn't help but worry when her son was away for extended periods of time.

'I'm sure he's fine… but I'll give him a quick call just to be sure,' Inko thought as she reached for her phone. Before she could get to her contacts, Inko heard the apartment's door open.

"Mom, I'm home," she heard her son call out.

She sighed in relief. 'Thank goodness.'

"Welcome home, sweetheart; dinner will ready in about 20 minutes," Inko said.

However, she heard a second pair of footsteps along with Izuku's. Inko turned to see Toshinori standing next to her son, a thick stack of papers in hand.

"Oh, Mr. Yagi," Inko greeted. "Izuku didn't tell me you'd be coming; would you like to stay for dinner."

"That would be excellent Mrs. Midoriya," Toshinori replied with a smile, but his expression then turned very serious. "However, there's an important matter Young Midoriya and I need to discuss with you."

Inko stood there for a moment, taken aback by Toshinori's dire tone. She turned to see Izuku standing rather awkwardly next to the tall man.

"I see," was all she said. Inko turned off the stove as Toshinori motioned for her take a seat the table. He sat down directly across from her while Izuku sat between them.

"I guess I should start with…well," Toshinori began as tried to find the right words. "I suppose you know that my physical health is…not the best…"

"Eh!" Inko yelped. "No, no, no; you look perfectly healthy."

Izuku and Toshinori gave her strange looks.

Inko gave out a forced laugh. "Well," Inko said softly as she started twiddling her thumbs. "If we're being honest…it looks like a stiff breeze could knock you over." She turned her eyes away from the blond man. "Maybe even a weak one."

The two men gaped at Inko's bluntness.

"I…you… you're not wrong…" Toshinori forced out as. "Anyway, ever since I started spending time with your son, I've seen a significant improvement in my health; so I took him to a doctor I know-"

"DOCTOR!" Inko cried out in a panic. "What's wrong with my baby!? Is he going to be okay!? What's-"

"Nonononono! It's nothing like that, Mrs. Midoriya," Toshinori said in a frantic attempt to calm her down. "In fact, it's the opposite; your son is an exceptionally healthy young man."

Inko immediately relaxed, clutching her still racing heart.

"It's just-well-take a look for yourself," Toshinori said as he shoved the stack of papers into Inko's hands.

She looked down to see…well, frankly, she had absolutely no idea what she was looking at. It was medically related, obviously, but she couldn't make heads or tails of it. The papers were a mess of charts, graphs, and medical jargon she couldn't even begin to comprehend.

"I'm sorry," Inko said as she looked at Toshinori, completely lost. "But, what am I looking at?"

He was opened his mouth to speak, but-

"Mom."

-was cut off my Izuku.

Inko and Toshinori looked at Izuku, having spoken for the first time since the conversation began. He looked down at his lap, refusing to meet either adult's gaze.

"The doctor, she did some tests, and she found out that I…I…" Izuku began, but fat tears started welling up in his eyes.

Inko reached out a hand to comfort her son; then he looked at her and she stopped, and it was a moment that would burn itself into Inko's memories forever.

A smile.

On Izuku's face was biggest, brightest, happiest smile Inko had ever seen in her entire life. Words couldn't begin to describe the pure elation Izuku radiated as fat tears of joy rolled down his cheeks.

She had never seen her son this happy, it was… awe-inspiring.

"Mom, I…I… I have a Quirk."

She couldn't reply as those words escaped Izuku's mouth.

"I have a Quirk. I've always had Quirk," Izuku brought up his hands to his try and control his tears.

"I have a Quirk… that heals people."

Inko stood up so abruptly her chair clattered to the ground, but she didn't care. All she cared about right now was Izuku, her son, her sweetheart, her baby.

"IZUKU!" she screamed as she launched herself at her son and embraced him in a bone-crushing hug, her own eyes breaking into tears of joy.

He said nothing as he hugged right back, his tears staining Inko's blouse.

She didn't mind, the only thing that matter to her right was her son.

They weren't sure how long they stayed like that, embracing each other, crying the happiest tears they had ever known, but they didn't care.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **5,036 words.**

 **This chapter is FIVE-FUCKING-THOUSAND-AND-THIRTY-FUCKING-SIX WORDS! I HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA HOW I DID THIS!**

 **I was not expecting this chapter to be so long, I thought it would be closer to 3,000 words like the last chapter, but the length felt necessary.**

 **Anyway, I am so happy I managed to finish, I hope you liked it.**

 **A Superhero sized 'thank you' to everyone who left a comment on the last chapter, knowing all of you enjoyed what I wrote really helped motivate me to pump this out.**

 **Seeing people enjoy my writing really makes me feel…fulfilled.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter of** ** _The Healing Touch_** **, please leave a comment, I'd love to know what you thought of this chapter. I'll try and respond to every single person who leaves a comment.**

 **See ya in the next one, take care, and have a wonderful day.**


	3. Suspicions

**AN:**

 **OH, MY FUCKING GOODNESS!**

 **Thank you all for your comments on chapter 2, it made me so happy to see all of you enjoy my writing!**

 **Just like the last chapter, I promise to respond to everyone who comments on this chapter if I can.**

 **Also, I forgot to mention this before, I've got a Tumblr and a Twitter; my Tumblr is xpegasusuniverse, and my Twitter is JackJVilardi**

* * *

Izuku and Toshinori were busy scrubbing dishes from that night's dinner while Inko was making a call. She'd been on hold for a few minutes while the operator transferred her, but she was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

'I guess it makes sense,' Izuku thought as he mechanically scrubbed a plate. 'This is really important news, of course, he needs to know.' He looked back at his mother, a huge grin plastered on her face, although he couldn't help but feel she was also nervous and…sad. 'But what do I say to him? I can't even remember the last time I talked to him.'

Izuku stared down at the plate in his hand, his reflection staring back at him. 'I can barely even remember what he looks like.'

"Young Midoriya?"

He jumped at the sound of Toshinori's voice.

"Are you alright?" the blond man asked, a soap covered sponge in hand.

"O-of course I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be," Izuku said as he gave a clearly forced smile.

Toshinori gave him an incredulous look.

Izuku gave a nervous laugh and went back to scrubbing dishes.

The blond man frowned but said nothing. The silence was awkward and heavy.

After a brief but tense moment, Izuku sighed and relented. "It's just that I'm… I'm nervous, okay."

Toshinori raised an eyebrow. "Nervous? Why? I thought you'd be excited."

"I know, but I…" Izuku spoke softly, so as not to be heard by Inko. "I can't remember the last time I talked to my dad."

Toshinori stared at Izuku with wide eyes. He didn't speak. He didn't know what to say. After a moment of awkward silence, he finally did something; Toshinori placed a comforting hand on Izuku's shoulder and gave a reassuring smile.

"Hey," Toshinori said. "It's going to be alright."

Izuku stared at Toshinori, stunned, before offering back a smile of his own.

"Hisashi!" Inko's giddy voice cut through the air.

Izuku and Toshinori stared at her as she practically vibrated with excitement.

"It's so good to talk to you, honey," Inko said. "How are you?" Inko went silent as Hisashi spoke. "Oh, we're doing just fine, in fact, Izuku has something to tell you; I'll hand you off to him now."

His mother beckoned for him. Izuku walked over and tentatively took the phone from his giddy mother. He stared at it for a moment before swallowing air and finally held the phone up his ear.

"Dad?"

 _"Izuku, is that you?"_ a husky and shaky voice replied.

"Uhm, yeah it's me."

 _"Huh, well you sound, uhm, different. Guess my little man's growing up."_

"Y-yeah, it's been a while since we talked," Izuku said with a nervous chuckle. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck, why did I say that?!'

 _"…you're right, it has been a long time. Probably too long…"_

The line went silent as Izuku's voice died in his throat.

 _"Anyway!"_ Hisashi said with clearly forced enthusiasm. _"Y-you're mom said you had something to tell me. What is it?"_

"Oh right," Izuku said, his voice suddenly back. "First is that I got a job."

 _"A job?"_

"Yeah, I'm a gofer for Mr. Yagi."

 _"…who's Mr. Yagi?"_

Izuku slapped himself on the forehead. "Sorry, forget to tell you; Mr. Yagi is All Might's secretary."

 _"All Might's…secretary? You're working for All Might's secretary!"_

"Uh-huh."

 _"That-THAT'S AMAZING, KIDDO!"_ Izuku felt his ears ring at the high volume of his father's voice.

 _"How did you meet him? Did you get the job today? What's the pay like? Have you met the big man himself?"_

Hisashi's rapid-fire questions were making Izuku's head spin. 'Is this what I sound like to people?'

"I met him by accident, really," Izuku explained. "There was a villain attack and he was on the scene with All Might. We got to talking after that and he offered me the job a week later." He made sure to omit the part where he was involved in the attack.

"I've been working for Mr. Yagi for about a month. He pays me 1,600 Yen an hour," Izuku's eye lit up as he spoke. "And he introduced me to All Might AND I GOT HIS AUTOGRAPH!" Izuku couldn't contain his squeal of fanboyish joy at the mention of the autograph. He blushed, realizing what he'd just done. "S-sorry, I got carried away."

Hisashi chuckled warmly. _"Hey, it's alright. I'm so happy for you Izuku, anyway, I've got to get back to work. We'll talk-"_

"WAIT! Don't hang up," Izuku said frantically. "There's something else I need to tell you, something important."

 _"…Okay, what is it?"_

He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to say. "Dad, I have a Quirk."

The line went dead silent, Izuku couldn't even hear his father breathing.

"Dad?"

 _"WHAT!"_ His voice was so loud, Izuku was sure his mother and Toshinori heard him. _"I don't understand. When!? Why!? How!?"_

"Well, the doctor never performed the gene test to see if I had Plus Alpha markers; they only checked my toe joints," Izuku explained. "And the other day, I went to see a doctor and she did some tests, and turns out I've always had a Quirk."

 _"Okay then…so did you get mine or your mom's? Or is it a mix?"_ Hisashi suddenly sounded very excited.

"Huh? What do you-Oh! You mean my Quirk," Izuku said. "Neither, it's actually a mutation."

 _"A mutation, that's incredible. Those are supposed to be super rare, what is it?"_

"It is, and that's why we didn't figure it out until now," Izuku said. "It's a type of healing Quirk. My body passively radiates energy that heals myself and everyone around me, that's why I've always had such a big appetite."

 _"Healing. That's amazing; what are you calling it?"_

"I actually haven't come up with a name for it yet."

 _"Well, make sure to call me when you do."_

Izuku smiled. "I will."

 _"I've got to get back to work, but there's one more thing I need to say."_

"What is it?"

 _"Izuku, I'm proud of you, you make so happy to be your dad."_

Taken aback, Izuku wasn't sure what to say.

 _"I really need to go now, promise we'll talk."_

"We will. Bye, dad."

 _"Bye, Izuku."_

As Hisashi hung up the phone, Izuku couldn't help but find himself crying tears of joy for the second time that night. He turned to his mother and Toshinori and smiled.

* * *

While Saturday was probably one of the greatest days of Izuku's life, the following Monday was proving to be…less than stellar (to say the least.)

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Izuku's classmates roared with laughter as the green haired boy sat at his desk, body shaking and tears at the corners of his eyes.

"You expect us to believe you magically got a Quirk over the weekend," a boy with large, shark-like teeth screeched. "Get real."

"Do you really think we're dumb enough to fall for that," a girl with brown hair and horns coming out of the sides of her head sneered. "Did little Quirkless Midoriya hit his head on the way to school?"

"It's the truth!" Izuku yelled as he stood up. "I do have a Quirk, and I didn't just get it over the weekend; I've always had it." Even though he was trying to be brave, Izuku's voice still shook and his knees wobbled.

"Oh yeah," another boy said as his fingers extended. "Then how come you've never used it before?" He punctuated the question by forcefully poking Izuku's forehead.

"I-I-I told you," Izuku managed to force out, holding back his tears. "My Quirk's a mutation. I only found out about it on Saturday."

"Really," another girl with blue prehensile hair said mockingly as she leaned forward. "Then why don't you show this 'Quirk' of yours?"

"Uhm, well, th-the thing is," Izuku muttered. "It's a h-healing Quirk, and I haven't had the chance to practice using it, and-"

"I knew it!" the first boy yelled. "You're lying! You're still the same Quirkless loser you've always been."

The four students burst into a fit of cruel laughter as hot tears ran down Izuku's cheeks, unable to hold back the floodgates any more.

"I-I-I'm not," Izuku tried to force out the word, but his tears wouldn't allow him to speak. "I'm not a-*sniff*-I'm not a-a…"

"Alright, that's enough," the teacher said he finished writing on the chalkboard. "Class is about to start, so settle down and take your seats." He turned to look directly at Izuku. "And Midoriya, you shouldn't make a habit of lying. Now sit down or I'll have you stand out in the hall."

The four other students went to their desks, leaving Izuku to futilely try and wipe away the tears pouring out of his eyes. The teacher paid him no mind.

A few desks away, Katsuki Bakugo sat with his feet planted squarely on his desk. While you wouldn't guess from posture or demeanor, he'd been intently listening to Izuku's exchange with their classmates (or as Bakugo called them, 'extras') and watching them out of the corner of his eye. Bakugo glanced back at Izuku's crying, trembling form one last time before turning his attention squarely on the chalkboard and the teacher in front of it.

'Nerd had it coming,' Bakugo thought, his face fiercely neutral. 'What did he think would happen, saying he's suddenly got a Quirk?'

As the rest of the class snickered at Izuku's tears, Bakugo could only scowl. 'Idiots. This is why you're all extras; you pay attention to little shits like Deku. I can't afford to get caught up in with him, he'd only drag me down.' That's what Bakugo told himself at least.

About a month ago, Bakugo had realized that interacting with Izuku at all was waste of his time, so he'd started avoiding the green haired boy completely. It was only a coincidence that his epiphany came the same day he got attacked by the Sludge Villain. He didn't owe Izuku anything and he certainly hadn't stopped bullying him as a way to 'repay' Izuku for saving him, because Bakugo hadn't needed saving, and certainly not by the likes of Izuku.

As the teacher started their morning lesson, Izuku finally managed to reign in his emotions hold back his tears. His eyes still red, Izuku looked up at the teacher and then around the room.

'Of course, they didn't believe me,' Izuku thought as pulled out his school notebook from his bag. 'They've got no reason to. I've always been the Quirkless kid. Why would that change overnight?'

Izuku tried to concentrate on the lesson, but he couldn't focus through his bleary eye. 'I just wish I could…' He looked at his desk, remembering Aldera Junior High used lift-lid desks. 'Prove it to them.'

He suddenly got an idea, a very bad, very stupid idea; but if it worked, Izuku would prove he had a Quirk.

Izuku put his school supplies back in his bag and stood up, his chair screeching in response. Every eye in the classroom focused in on him.

The teacher groaned. "Midoriya, what did I say about-"

But Izuku wasn't listening. He lifted the desk's lid as high as he could and placed his left pointer finger squarely on the metal frame.

His teacher and classmates stared at him, bewildered. Izuku took a deep breath and then brought the lid down with as much force as he could muster.

Everyone screamed, Izuku in pain and everyone else in shock.

"Holy fuck!" One student cried.

Izuku grit his teeth and brought the lid down again, but managed to contain his screams.

The teacher stared at him, dumbfounded at what he was doing. "M-M-Midoriya! What the hell are you doing!?"

Izuku didn't answer his question and instead brought the lid up once more.

"I."

Slam.

"Am."

Slam.

"Not"

Slam.

"A."

Slam!

"Liar!"

Slam! Slam! Slam! Slam! Slam! Slam!

SLAM!

Izuku brought the lid down on his finger one last before he pulled it out of the desk. He held up his left arm to reveal a bleeding, bashed, broken purple finger. Izuku was breathing heavily, almost delirious with pain.

The classroom was silent, all eyes on him.

Izuku took a deep breath to steady himself and concentrated, concentrated on the power he knew he had. 'I know it's there, somewhere. All I have to do-'

Suddenly, Izuku began to glow; he was enveloped by a vibrant green aura that grew brighter and bright as the seconds passed.

'-is bring it to the surface!'

Izuku glowed so bright the classroom was blinded, everyone was forced to shield their eyes. When the light faded, the class looked and saw Izuku standing at his desk panting like he'd just run a marathon, and clutching a perfectly healthy finger.

He looked at all his classmates, and then the teacher, a triumphant smile on his tired face. "See. I told you…I had a… Quirk…" Izuku collapsed, hitting his desk with a resounding thud.

"Holy fuck!"

"Stop saying that!" The teacher screamed. He pointed to the student who'd just spoken. "Run to the nurse and tell her Midoriya collapsed!"

"Right away," he said, bolting out of the classroom.

"You two," the teacher said, pointing to two students sitting next to Izuku. "Help me carry Midoriya to the nurse's office!"

They nodded and took an arm each while the teacher grabbed Izuku's legs.

As all of this was happening, the rest of the class looked on in stunned silence. Everyone had the same gaping expression on their faces as Izuku was hauled to the Nurse's office.

Except one.

Bakugo stared at Izuku's unconscious body with eyes drowning in rage and fury. His body shook as he grit his teeth. Bakugo's hands gripped his desk so hard his knuckles turned bone white. It was a miracle he hadn't crushed the desk or blown it to smithereens.

'Deku,' he thought, blocking out his classmates' chatter. 'I'm going to fucking murder you, you fat, lying, nerd!'

* * *

As Izuku walked home from school, he couldn't help but smile. Sure, he'd collapsed from actively using his Quirk for the first time, but was it worth it to show everyone how wrong they were.

Although he was embarrassed by the fact he'd eaten Nurse Ito's bento after he woke up… and then went on to scarf down her jar of lollipops she kept for students. He'd apologized profusely and promised to bring her a bento and a new jar of lollipops tomorrow.

Still, Izuku felt on top of the world, nothing could bring him down!

"DEKU!"

Izuku couldn't even make a sound before someone grabbed his collar and shoved him against a wall. He was disoriented, but Izuku knew immediately who it was; Bakugo.

His wits returning, Izuku opened his eyes to see Bakugo, his face contorted into a ferocious mask of rage and contempt.

'I've never seen Kacchan this mad,' Izuku thought, trembling and sweating under Bakugo's gaze. 'What the hell happened to him!?'

"K-K-Kacchan," Izuku stuttered out. "What are you-"

"Shut up, you fat nerd!" Bakugo growled.

Izuku froze, silent.

"How long," Bakugo said, his voice low and cold. "How long have been lying to me, you bastard?!"

"Kacchan, I don't know what you're talking about," Izuku blurted out.

"Quirkless," Bakugo said, confusing Izuku. "You said were Quirkless! But you've had a Quirk this whole time, you little shit stain!" Bakugo started screaming in Izuku's face, his eyes burning and hostile.

"I thought I was Quirkless too, I really did," Izuku squeaked, his voice drenched in fear. "I only found out I had Quirk on Saturday; I don't even have a name for it." He was sweating bullets and trembling worse than he ever had before, but Bakugo's grip remained ironclad.

It was quiet for a moment, not even the birds were chirping.

Bakugo took a deep breath. "Fine," he spat, letting go of Izuku.

The green haired boy dropped to the ground.

"Keep lying; keep telling everyone that shitty story, you fat nerd," Bakugo growled as looked down at Izuku in disgust. "But I know the truth."

Bakugo stepped back and walked away, leaving Izuku shaking on the ground. After a few paces, he stopped and turned around. "Don't think this changes anything. Quirk or no Quirk, you're still Deku; always have been, always will be." He finally walked off, leaving Izuku alone.

Izuku curled up in a ball, tears poking at the corners of his eyes. He pulled out a granola bar and started eating, but it tasted like nothing.

"Damn it."

* * *

"He comes home and tells me collapsed at school from using his Quirk, I can hardly believe it," Inko said, pointing her chopsticks at Toshinori. "I swear, every week he finds a new reason to make me worry."

"Mom," Izuku whined, chopsticks halfway between his plate and his mouth. "Don't say it like that. It's embarrassing." His face turned bright red, and Toshinori's giggles weren't helping.

"I'm sorry, Young Midoriya," Toshinori said with a grin. "But she's right, you always seem to be doing something to fret over."

Izuku turned bright red while Inko and Toshinori laughed.

Inko took a moment to look around the table appreciate this moment. Izuku sat across from her while Toshinori sat between them to her left and Izuku's right. Despite his embarrassment, Inko knew Izuku was happy; it was certainly an improvement from earlier.

When her son had arrived home from school today, Inko knew something was wrong. Izuku had been…subdued seemed to be the best way to put it. It felt as though Izuku had been holding something in, something he didn't want to let out. Inko tried asking him what was wrong, but he smiled and said he was fine, then went to his room.

Izuku kept things from her, Inko knew that; she'd known that for a long time. She wasn't stupid. Inko knew her son was bullied, she knew how cruel children could be, both intentionally and unintentionally. She'd tried to get Izuku to open up about what went on when she wasn't around, but he never did.

Instead, she decided to be his rock, to always support him in whatever he wanted to do.

When he walked into his room, Inko decided to go whatever she could to make her son happy. The first step was katsudon, Izuku's favorite food; of course, Izuku liked, no, loved all sorts of food, but katsudon was cut above the rest for him. It never failed to improve his mood when they had it for dinner.

The second step was Toshinori; even they'd only met a month ago, Toshinori and Izuku had formed a very strong bond. The man gave her son hope, something Inko felt like she'd failed at. She invited him over under the pretense that being around Izuku was good for his physical health; while true, the real reason she'd invited him was that being around Toshinori was good for Izuku's mental health.

Although even as Izuku and Toshinori talked about their days had been, Inko couldn't stop herself from worrying.

With Izuku meeting Toshinori, getting a job as a gofer, his sudden interest in working out and bodybuilding, and the discovery of his Quirk; it had all done wonders for her son's self-confidence, but it didn't feel quite right. This all felt too sudden to be a coincidence, and she still had trouble believing Izuku was balancing school, his job, and his workout routine. Inko felt like she was missing something, some piece of this puzzle that would make everything clear as day, and she knew Izuku had it.

"Mom," Izuku said. "Are you okay?"

Snapping out of her musings, Inko realized she'd acquired a rather worried look on her face. "Oh me, I'm fine," she said lightly. "I was just wondering if you're going to start collapsing on a regular basis; I'm not sure my heart could take it if you did."

Izuku blanched while Toshinori erupted into a fit of giggles.

Inko smiled as they argued good-naturedly over her statement. 'I suppose it's alright for now,' she thought warmly. 'He's kept secrets before, and whatever it is, it makes my baby happy.' And so, Inko decided not to pry; at least not yet.

* * *

Later in the evening, in another part of Musutafu, Chiyo Shuzenji, better known as Recovery Girl, was busy cleaning up after her dinner. Dressed in a white shirt and grey sweatpants, she'd just finished washing the dishes and placing them on the drying rack.

Suddenly, her cell phone rang. Recovery Girl looked at the clock. 'Who could it be at this hour,' she thought. Recovery Girl looked the caller-id and sighed in annoyance. 'Of course.'

"Hello, All Might," she said as she answered the phone.

 _"Good evening, Recovery Girl; sorry to disturb you at such a late hour_."

"It's fine," Recovery Girl said as she walked from the kitchen to her office. "Did you overdo it again and need to see me?"

 _"What, no!"_ Toshinori exclaimed, rather offended. _"Believe it or not it was Young Midoriya; he used his Quirk at school and ended up collapsing. He's fine now, but it's concerning."_

Recovery Girl groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I swear, that boy is too similar to you for his own good. Bring him to me tomorrow and I'll look him over."

 _"Thank you. Goodnight, Recovery Girl."_

"Goodnight, All Might." Recovery Girl hung up. As she put her phone back in her pocket, Recovery Girl looked her desk, covered in papers. She picked up the file of one Yuma Tsubasa, the Quirkologist whom wrongly diagnosed Izuku as Quirkless.

'How on Earth,' she thought as poured over the file. 'Does a professional Quirkologist simply forget to perform a DNA test? It's standard procedure.'

After Izuku had told Recovery Girl about how his doctor had failed to perform the DNA, she'd immediately requested (or rather demanded) to get their name so she could have their license revoked. While Izuku had been happy to provide her with Dr. Tsubasa's name, he'd also told her that he was unfortunately no longer with us.

'Abducted along with his grandson, Sora, on a shopping trip,' she thought she pulled out the police reports she'd printed out. 'Suspects found and convicted, but no bodies ever recovered. Both presumed dead.'

She noted the date when the missing persons report was filed; the day after All Might's fight with All for One.

'Someone, no, a monster with the power to steal Quirks is killed in a fight to the death, and the very next day a Quirkologist disappears into thin air, not a trace of him or his grandson to be found.' Recovery Girl's brow furrowed as she looked at every document regarding Yuma Tsubasa she'd managed to dig up. 'This has to be a coincidence, it has to be. But…'

She pulled out a bottle and a glass from the bottom drawer of her desk and poured herself a glass of whiskey.

'Something's not right. I can feel it in my bones,' Recovery Girl thought grimly, sipping on her nightcap.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Well how about that ending ;)**

 **This chapter was originally going to be a bit longer, but this felt like a natural stopping point, and it's almost 4,000 words.**

 **Again, a huge thank you to everyone who commented on the last chapter, seeing all of you enjoy writing just makes me feel so happy and fulfilled, you're all wonderful. Thank you.**

 **I hope you leave a comment on this chapter if you feel so inclined, they keep me motivated to write the next chapter, and I'll try to respond to everyone who comments on this chapter.**

 **Also, come scream at me on Tumblr at xpegasusuniverse, and on twitter at JackJVilardi. Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day.**


	4. For Better or For Worse

The Healing Touch Chapter 4: For Better or For Worse

By

Xpegasus

 **AN: *Burst out from a pile of essays and exams* I'M ALLLLLIIIIIVVVVVEEEEE!**

 **You guys didn't think I'd leave you alone or abandon this story now, did you? I was just caught up with college, but now it's summer vacation and I'm back with a vengeance.**

 **Since you guys had to wait so long, here's an extra-long chapter for you to sink your teeth into.**

 **And as always, please leave a comment/review if you feel inclined, they're fuel for the Fanfiction Machine and I love reading what you guys have to say. Constructive criticism is always welcome.**

 **You're also welcome to come and scream at me on Tumblr at xpegasusuniverse and on Twitter JackJVilardi.**

 **I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Izuku stared at Recovery Girl; Recovery Girl stared at Izuku.

He felt himself sweating as he sat in UA's nurse's office after hours, brought at the behest of Recovery Girl after Izuku had collapsed yesterday.

'Is she going to say anything?' Izuku thought as he felt as though Recovery Girl was staring at his very soul. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

"So," she began, looking over her clipboard. "You collapsed yesterday."

"That's right," Izuku mumbled out, his body shaking. He briefly looked at Toshinori, who was standing off to the side, as if to ask for help. All he did was give Izuku a sympathetic look.

"All Might told me it was from overexerting your Quirk," Recovery Girl had a dangerous look in her eye as she spoke. "What prompted this?"

Izuku swallowed air, his chest tight and heart pounding. "I-I-I broke my finger."

Her eyes narrowed. "How?"

Izuku looked at Toshinori again, but the blond was shaking just as much as him. "Jammed it in a desk," he managed to squeak out.

Recovery Girl's glare only intensified.

"On…purpose…," Izuku said as if Recovery Girl had managed to reach into his brain and forced the truth out.

The room went deathly quiet and still, the tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Recovery Girl sighed, all tension leaving her body.

'Oh thank goodness,' Izuku thought as he finally relaxed.

"YOU IDIOT!" she screamed as whacked him upside the head with her cane.

"OW!" Izuku cried out, clutching the top of his head. He looked at Recovery Girl with tears at the corners of his eyes. "Why would you do that?! You're a doctor!"

"That's exactly why I hit you," she yelled, scowling. "I diagnosed you with stupid and prescribed you a cane beating! Best cure for it I have."

She turned to Toshinori, who at this point had turned white as a sheet. "First you and now him! Honestly, do I need to tie you both down to stop you from injuring yourselves?!"

Toshinori laughed nervously as his eyes darted to the ceiling.

Recovery Girl sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She turned to a still stunned Izuku. "In any event, we can't have you passing out like this again. You need to learn how to control your Quirk," her expression became far more serious as she spoke.

Izuku was taken aback by her sudden change in tone but nodded in agreement nonetheless.

"Right," he said, voice filled with determination. Izuku's face fell as was struck with a sudden realization. "But how am I supposed to do that? Everyone else had their whole lives to figure out how their Quirks work; I've only got nine months until UA's entrance exams."

"Actually, we've got an idea," Toshinori said, catching Izuku's attention. "Recovery Girl and I were talking this morning, and we decided it would be a good idea for you to train with her to master your Quirk. You'll split your time between your physical training with me and training your Quirk with Recovery Girl."

"But that'll cut into my training for One for All!" Izuku said in a panic. "I'm already on a time crunch to get my body ready for One for All; there's no way I'll be ready for the exam if I try and do both!"

"Calm down, calm down," Recovery girl said soothingly. "There's no need to worry. Just let us explain."

Embarrassed, Izuku quickly muttered an apology and let them speak.

"Now, do you know how you build muscle?" Recovery Girl asked.

Izuku thought for a moment and said he didn't.

"Well, to put it simply, you build muscle by tearing them and letting them heal," she explained. "When you tear your muscle fibers they knit themselves back together stronger than before. Your body passively radiates energy that heals yourself and those around you, thus accelerating this process."

"That's awesome," Izuku beamed. "But how can you be sure?"

"Because I've seen it in action," Toshinori interjected. "I didn't say anything earlier because I wasn't sure, but you're actually ahead of schedule on your training routine. I realized it after talking with Recovery Girl this morning; you keep this up and you'll have plenty of time to spare." Toshinori smiled at his protégé.

Izuku couldn't help but smile back at his mentor, a sudden warmth filling his chest. "Right, I'll work hard to master my Quirk before UA's entrance exam."

Recovery Girl couldn't help but crack a smile alongside them. She then looked at the clock and noticed the time. "It's getting late, you should be getting home," she said, turning to Izuku.

"Oh, right," he said as looked at the clock. "I don't want my mom to start worrying again." He jumped off the bed and started gathering his things. "I'd better hurry if I want to catch the train home."

"Actually, why don't I just drive you home?" Toshinori offered.

"Are you sure?" Izuku asked sheepishly. "You can just drive me to the station. I don't want to be any trouble."

"Hey, it's no trouble at all, Young Midoriya," the tall man replied. "Besides, it gives me an excuse to stay for dinner." Toshinori grinned.

Izuku chuckled and accepted the offer.

As the two left Recovery Girl's office, her face fell. She looked at her desk where Yuma Tsubasa's file laid, her face tight and tense.

* * *

The following week at school was proving to be rather uneventful by all accounts. After the initial shock from Monday had worn off, all of Izuku classmates had returned to their normal routine of ignoring the green haired boy. Not even Bakugou paid him any mind, going back to acting as if Izuku didn't exist after confronting him about his Quirk on Monday.

'Makes sense, I guess,' Izuku thought as he walked through the halls with his eight-tier bento in hand. 'Nothing's really changed, so there's no reason for them to just start being nice to me.'

It didn't really bother him. Izuku had been dealing with it his whole and hadn't really expected any change so there was no reason to get upset.

He looked out the window and smiled at the gorgeous sunny day. It was so nice he'd decided to have his lunch outside. Not wanting to miss out on this opportunity, Izuku started walking faster than the school allowed. As he made his way to the exit, Izuku rounded a corner-

"Gah!"

"Ow!"

-and collided with another student.

Izuku fell to the floor with a thud, landing on his butt. Clutching his thankfully intact bento in one arm, Izuku rubbed his head. 'Did I run into a wall or something?'

"Oi! Watch where you're going!"

He looked to see a large, burly male student with short purple hair and cat ears on top of his head. He was flanked by a female student with long black hair, curly goat-like horns on top of her head, and a sour expression on her face.

"I'm sorry!" Izuku blurted out, panicked. He scrambled to his feet as he tried to form an apology. "I-I-I shouldn't have run- I'm so sorry I ran into you."

"Ya you are," the horned girl said. She lunged forward and stood so close her horns threatened to poke Izuku's eyes out. "Juz who do you think you are, bub? Some big shot who can go around messing with my boyfriend!"

Izuku didn't know how to respond to that. He stood there gaping like a fish while she continued to glare at him.

"That's enough, babe," her boyfriend said. He placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled his girlfriend back. "This loser isn't worth our time." He looked down at Izuku, finally noticing his bento, and smirked. "How about this; you give us that lunch of yours and we'll call it even."

"What," Izuku said, taken aback.

"What are you, deaf? I said give me-"

"No," Izuku said, soft but stern.

The two students were shocked, looking at Izuku with wide eyes, seemingly unable to process what had just happened.

"The hell did you juz say?" the girl said, legitimately confused.

"No way! My mom worked hard to make me this lunch! I'm not handing it over to you!" Izuku's voice rang throughout the hall, sounding much braver than he felt. He knew how hard his mother worked to make sure he was properly fed, and he wasn't about to let these two jackasses let it all go to waste.

The boy's face twisted in anger. With teeth bared, cat ears pushed, and a tail Izuku hadn't noticed before whipping back and force, he looked ready to tear Izuku's head off. "Listen here, you little shit," he said, almost growling. "I'm a nice guy, so I'll give you one more chance to hand over the bento and we'll walk away." The boy stalked forward, getting ready to pounce if he was refused again.

Izuku wanted to run, but he didn't. He stood his ground and stared down the much larger boy. 'I'm not going to let my classmates push me around anymore,' Izuku thought as his body shook, but he kept a firm grip on his lunch. 'I'm going to be a hero, and heroes don't back down from villains.'

"That's it," the purple haired boy said when it became clear Izuku wasn't going to hand over his lunch. "Prepare for a world of hurt you-"

"What's going on here!?" A stern voice cut through the air.

The three students looked to see Mr. Kita, Izuku's homeroom teacher, walking towards them, a scowl on his face.

The purple haired boy smirked. "Nothing sir, we were just-"

"You were bullying Midoriya, weren't you?" Mr. Kita said. "Well you leave him alone or you two will be getting a one-way ticket to the principal's office!"

All three students were shocked by what Mr. Kita had just, Izuku most of all.

'What,' Izuku thought, shell-shocked by what was happening. 'This can't be Mr. Kita, can it?' He looked Mr. Kita over and say the same pale blond comb-over and receding hairline, confirming that this was his homeroom teacher.

"Uh, teach," the girl said. "You do knowz who this guy is, right?"

"Oh, I'm perfectly aware of who Midoriya is," he said as placed hand on Izuku's shoulder, he shivered under Mr. Kita's touch. "Now scram before I get angry!"

At that, the couple turned around and ran off, leaving Izuku and Mr. Kita alone.

'What the hell was that?' Izuku thought, still in shock over what had just happened. He glanced at Mr. Kita awkwardly. The blond man simply grinned, his hand still placed uncomfortably on Izuku's shoulder.

Was this really the same man who, just this past Monday, had been content to sit back and watch as Izuku's classmates ruthlessly bullied him? Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, Izuku decided to thank Mr. Kita, no matter how… odd his behavior was.

"Mr. Kita, sir," he said as pulled himself out his teacher's grip. "Th-thank you for, uh, coming to my rescue. I'm not sure what I would have done if you hadn't shown up."

"It's no trouble at all, Midoriya," Mr. Kita said, still grinning like a madman. Izuku squirmed under his teacher's gaze, feeling very uncomfortable. Mr. Kita either didn't notice or didn't care, as continued to talk as if nothing was wrong.

"You know," he said… warmly, Izuku supposed that was the best way to describe his tone, but that still didn't feel right. "Why don't you come and have lunch in the teacher's room with me? No chance of anyone trying to steal it there." His grin only widened, and Izuku only became more uncomfortable.

"O…kay," Izuku said stiffly.

"Great!" Mr. Kita declared. He wrapped his arm around Izuku's shoulders and led him towards the teacher's room.

Izuku sat next to Mr. Kita as he pulled out his own normal sized bento. They ate in silence for the next few minutes while other teachers went about their routines around them, some giving them odd looks but otherwise paying them no mind.

"So, Izuku."

The green haired boy nearly choked at the sound of his first name. He turned and stared wide-eyed at Mr. Kita, that grin still on his face.

"You don't mind if call you by your given name, do you?" the teacher asked.

"Uhm…you can call me Izuku if you want," he said reluctantly, not wanting to upset his teacher.

"Excellent," Mr. Kita said, grinning even wider, either not realizing or not caring that Izuku hadn't actually answered his question. "You know, have I ever told you that you're one of my favorite students?"

"I…I am?" Izuku said, very confused. This was the same man who had let his classmates use him as their personal stress release ball and punching bag, who stood by and let them laugh at and degrade him, and now he was telling Izuku that…that he was his favorite student.

"Of course you," Mr. Kita said with a chuckle that sent shivers down Izuku's spine. "You're so smart and polite and considerate, why wouldn't you be?"

He paused to take a sip of his coffee before continuing. "I tell you, Izuku, you've got a bright future ahead of you. You've got a sharp mind and a drive to succeed; everyone will be dying to get their hands on you when you graduate."

Mr. Kita kept talking, but Izuku wasn't listening. He was lost in his own little world while he tried to figure out what the hell was going on. The way Mr. Kita was treating was…nice, Izuku had to admit that at least, but it was so strange and jarring. Mr. Kita (heck, all his teachers) had always been content to practically ignore his existence, now he was being treated like the apple of Mr. Kita's eye.

'I should be happy, I guess,' Izuku thought. 'Most students would probably kill for an opportunity like this, but this 180° attitude adjustment feels… it feels wrong.'

"-ku, Izuku," he finally heard Mr. Kita calling his name, snapping him out of his stupor.

"Huh," Izuku exclaimed.

"Are you alright? You had a really weird look on your face. Need me to take you to the nurse's office?"

"N-no, I'm fine," he blurted out, feeling more uncomfortable than ever. "I just spaced out for a second." He quickly glanced at the clock, not actually bothering to read the time. "This has been really fun, Mr. Kita, but I should get back to class before next period starts; Mrs. Hamasaki's pretty strict."

Mr. Kita smiled. "Well, we should do this again sometime, Izuku."

Izuku shivered at the sound of his first name coming from Mr. Kita's mouth. "Uhm, sure, but can I ask you a favor; please just call me Midoriya when we're in class."

"Sure, sure; don't want them to think I'm giving you special treatment," the teacher said in a sickeningly sweet tone.

"G-great, I'll see you later, Mr. Kita," Izuku said as he got up and made his way to the door, getting out of the teacher's room as fast as he could.

Mr. Kita stared at the door for a moment but went back to his lunch. 'That went well,' he thought, completely oblivious to his student's discomfort.

* * *

The next morning found Izuku being driven to Recovery Girl's house for his first lesson on how to control his Quirk. They had decided that they couldn't just keep bringing Izuku to UA without causing suspicion, lest a teacher or a student saw him and started asking questions they didn't want to answer.

"Here we are," Toshinori said as he pulled up to Recovery Girl's house. It was a white and blue single story building with a garden in the front.

Before he unbuckled his seatbelt, Toshinori turned to Izuku. "You sure you want to start today? I can take you home if you're not feeling well."

"I'm sure. I'm feeling much better today," Izuku said, keeping up the act he started yesterday. He'd been in a bit of a stupor after having lunch with Mr. Kita that had lasted until after dinner, and both his mother and Toshinori had taken note. They'd asked what was wrong, but not wanting to mention his teacher's…odd behavior, he'd lied and said he felt sick.

Inko had insisted he go to bed early and asked him to stay home today, and Toshinori had offered to reschedule his first lesson with Recovery Girl. It had taken a little back and forth, but Izuku had managed to convince them that all he needed was good night's sleep.

Toshinori seemed skeptical, fully aware of Izuku's predisposition to overworking himself. He raised an eyebrow at first, but sighed and relented, deciding to trust his protégé's judgment. He got out of the truck and Izuku followed suit shortly after, his yellow backpack in hand.

The blond man knocked on the door and they were greeted to the sight of Recovery Girl dressed in a light pink muumuu. Her hair was in its usual bun, although lacking the syringe hairpin; she had also replaced her syringe cane with a normal wooden cane.

"Good morning you two," she said with a smile.

"Good morning, Recovery Girl," Toshinori replied.

"Hello, Recovery Girl. It's a pleasure to be here," Izuku said a little stiffly. "Thanks for agreeing to train me."

Recovery Girl looked at Izuku, eyeing him suspiciously. "All Might told me you weren't feeling well yesterday," she narrowed her eyes, sending a shiver down Izuku's spine. "I don't need to give another dose of 'stupidity medicine,' do I?" She gripped her cane more tightly as she spoke.

"N-no, ma'am! The first dose cured me of my stupid," Izuku said with a nervous laugh. He was not in the mood for another cane beating.

She smiled, relaxing her grip on her cane. "Splendid, now come inside and grab a drink and then we'll start working on your Quirk."

Recovery Girl led them to the living room and asked them to sit down. "I'll bring us some tea," she said before walking into the kitchen.

Izuku sat down and looked down at his hands, his palms sweaty.

"Nervous?" He looked to see Toshinori sitting across from him, a comforting look on the blond man's face.

"Yeah, a little," Izuku replied. "But I'm also really excited; this Quirk, my Quirk, I've barely scratched the surface of what it can do. If can master it and One for All, then there's no doubt that I'll become a Hero."

Toshinori smiled warmly in agreement. "I'll bet. I'm excited to see what you can do with it; that is if you can use it without passing out."

Izuku blushed while Toshinori let out a chuckle. He stopped laughing and looked Izuku straight in the eye, suddenly far more serious. "But I have been meaning to talk to you about something that's been bugging me; why did break your finger at school?"

'Crap!' Izuku thought, he'd been dreading the idea this conversation. His mother had thankfully never learned of his self-inflicted injury and had hoped his mentor would have forgotten that little detail by now. No such luck.

"Uhm, well, the thing is," Izuku rambled as he tried desperately to think of a good answer. He went on for almost thirty seconds until Toshinori gave him a look, and he sighed in defeat. Izuku tore his eyes away from Toshinori's and looked down at the floor, guilt and shame painted across his face.

"My classmates, they were…they were making fun of me," Izuku said, his voice soft and meek. "When I told them I had a Quirk, they laughed and called me a liar; said I was desperate for attention. I just…" as Izuku continued, his voice became shaky. "I just wanted them to stop. To stop laughing and believe me, and hurting myself to use my Quirk was the only thing I could think of."

Tears started to form at the corners of Izuku's eyes as he desperately tried to wipe them away while Toshinori looked on in silence, his face unreadable.

"I know it was stupid and petty, but I…I couldn't stand it," Izuku said. He looked down at the floor in silence, shame permeated every inch of his being. He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice Toshinori rise from his seat.

"Young Midoriya," Izuku looked up to see Toshinori kneeling in front of him. "I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay?"

"Okay," Izuku said, tears still in his eyes.

"Okay." Toshinori placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder; it steadied him and made him feel warm, safe, relaxed. "Young Midoriya, you did nothing wrong. Was it stupid? Perhaps. Was it impulsive? Most definitely. But was it wrong? No, not all. What was wrong was how your classmates treated you; discovering you had a Quirk was incredible for you, your dream come true. They took your joy and happiness and tried to trample all over it. They forced you into a corner and you fought back."

Toshinori shifted his arms and wrapped Izuku in a tight embrace. "You did nothing wrong, Young Midoriya."

Izuku was stunned, completely at a loss for words. Unable to think of a response, Izuku did the only thing he could do and hugged back, burying his face in the crook of Toshinori's neck. They stayed like that for about minute before separating, smiles on both of their faces.

"Better?" Toshinori asked.

"Better," Izuku said, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off his chest. "Thank you, Yagi. Thank you so much."

"No problem. However," Toshinori's tone shifted as he pointed a finger at his protégé. "I don't want you hurting yourself like that again, got it?"

"Got it," Izuku said sheepishly, embarrassed. "I promise not to break my bone on purpose again, Hero's honor."

While Izuku and Toshinori had their heart to heart, Recovery Girl stood next to the door between the kitchen and living room with a smile on her face and a tray in her hands. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but she couldn't very well interrupt their moment.

'I never pegged you as the parental type, All Might, but even the best of us can be wrong,' Recovery Girl thought. She waited until Toshinori had returned to his seat before entering with a pot of green tea and a large plate of rice balls.

"Sorry that took so long; I'd misplaced the tea," she said as she poured her guests cups of tea.

"That's okay," Izuku replied. He immediately grabbed a rice ball and took a bite. "Mmh, this is really good! Did you make these?"

"Actually, they're store bought. My local supermarket makes them fresh every day," Recovery Girl explained. "Now, we need to discuss how we'll be going about training your Quirk."

Izuku nodded. He fished out his journal, Hero Analysis for the Future No. 13, and a pencil from his backpack. He leaned forward ever so slightly, ready to take in everything the heroine had to say.

Recovery Girl smiled at Izuku's enthusiasm. "Now, I'm assuming you know how my Quirk, Heal, works, right?"

"Of course," Izuku said as his face lit up. He flipped through his journal until he found the section dedicated to Recovery Girl. "You accelerate the body's natural healing abilities by kissing them. You can use your Quirk to heal broken bones in seconds, but it uses up the patient's stamina." He held up his journal to show off a crude sketch of Recovery Girl accompanied by a set of notes.

She nodded. "Correct, from the tests we've done it appears your Quirk works on a similar principle, using the body's energy to accelerate the natural healing process. However, you use your own energy instead of the patient's, allowing you to heal yourself as well. Unfortunately, you have zero control over your Quirk when you try and use it actively; you completely drained your energy reserves to heal one finger. I can do the same thing using barely a fraction of someone's stamina."

"I see," Izuku said as he stroked his chin contemplatively. "So my Quirk is like…oh!" His face lit up as realization struck him like lightning. "My Quirk is like washing the dishes!"

The room went dead silent at Izuku's statement. Recovery Girl and Toshinori stared at him as though he'd grown a second head.

"I'm sorry, but what," Recovery Girl said as blinked in surprise.

"Young Midoriya, are you sure you're alright?" Toshinori asked, concern written across his face.

"It's like this," Izuku continued, seemingly unaware or unperturbed by their stares. "Injuries are like all the food and germs left on the dishes after dinner, and my Quirk is like the soap and water you use to clean them," Izuku had turned to a new page in his journal and started jotting down notes as he spoke. "But dishes can only get so clean. Once you've washed off the all the food scraps and germs there's no point in cleaning it any further; if you keep scrubbing, you're just wasting soap and water."

As he finished writing down his notes, they could only gape at his quite frankly stunning analysis of his own Quirk.

"That… that's right," Recovery Girl said, still trying to process what she'd just witnessed. "I couldn't have put it better myself."

"It's a pretty boring comparison, but I have to admit it's a damn good one," Toshinori said with a bloody laughing. "So I guess what you've got to do is imagine turning off the water when you're done scrubbing, and maybe using less soap."

The three finished off the tea rice balls before moving to Recovery Girl's home clinic. There was a bed, an examination table, and a dozen or so machines that Izuku had no what were for. At Recovery Girl behest, Izuku stripped down to his underwear and sat at the examination table. She hooked him up to various machines that he had no idea what they were supposed to do and brought over a large bowl of gummies.

"What are those for," Izuku asked, eyeing the bowl of brightly colored fruit snacks.

"They're my specially formulated gummies, designed to refuel a person's stamina after I heal them," Recovery Girl said as she looked over the machines. "I figured they'd be useful to stop you from passing out."

She turned back to Izuku. "Now, this machine is designed to measure your energy output when you use your Quirk; try and activate it when you're ready, I'll tell you when to stop."

Izuku nodded and went to work. He focused on the feeling from Monday and tried to recreate it. 'Come on, come one, I know it's there,' he thought as tried to grab hold of the power he'd called upon before. 'I did it before and I can do it again.'

He dug deep inside himself, desperately clawing for the power he knew he had. Sweat formed on his brow as his focus sharpened and his resolve hardened. But alas…nothing; that feeling, that incredible sensation of drawing upon his Quirk refused to come out.

Izuku let out a breath and looked at Recovery Girl. "Anything?" he asked, his voice almost pleading.

"No change, I'm sorry," she said.

"Dammit," he said, almost a whisper. Izuku looked down at his feet, refusing to meet anyone else's gaze.

"Well," Recovery Girl began with an unpleasant look on her face. "You were injured the last time you used it actively; perhaps if you were injured again you could use it."

"WHAT!" Toshinori screamed, blood spurting out of his mouth. "You want to hurt him!? Are you crazy!?"

"Of course not!" Recovery Girl gave him a stiff whack on the head with her cane. "I don't like the idea of hurting the boy either! Lord knows I'm not going to break his bones." She sighed, the same unpleasant look returning to her face. "But, if it's the only way for him to use his Quirk right now…"

"Let's do it." They looked at Izuku, his face brimming with determination. It was clear he wasn't backing down.

She sighed again. "Very well," she said. Recovery Girl went to a drawer and pulled out a scalpel, Izuku looked at it with trepidation. "Please, hold out your hand."

Izuku nodded and did as she asked. He grit his teeth as Recovery Girl slid the scalpel across the palm of his hand. Her old hands were precise and steady until the blade broke the skin. It wasn't a very deep cut but it was enough to draw blood.

He looked at his bleeding hand, a pained smile on his. 'Let's do this,' he thought. Izuku closed his eyes and reached inside himself, focusing on the pain in his hand and the desire to fix it. 'Come on, come on.' He knew the power was inside him, he just had to-there! He grabbed hold of it and felt the same energy spread throughout his body. 'I've got it, I've got it, I've-'

"STOP!"

His eyes snapped open and he let go, the energy faded from his body. Izuku looked down at his hand and saw it completely healed. He turned to look at Recovery Girl, who was staring slack-jawed at the monitors, and suddenly realized how tired and hungry he was.

"What the hell," she exclaimed, pushing the bowl of gummies towards Izuku who started devouring them without a second thought. "I can certainly say I wasn't expecting that. The energy output was incredible."

Recovery Girl removed machine's patches from Izuku's body and gave him a towel to wipe his hand while Toshinori handed him his clothes.

"Good news is I didn't pass out," Izuku said with a smile, feeling much better having devoured half the gummies. But his face fell as he sighed in frustration, remembering his promise to Toshinori. "Bad news is I had to get hurt again to use it."

Toshinori and Recovery Girl looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Suddenly, Toshinori was struck with an idea.

"A name," he said. Izuku and Recovery Girl turned to look at him. "You haven't named it yet, so maybe that's the trick."

"Yeah, you're right! But, uh…" Izuku said as his face blushed pink. "None of the names I've come up with so far are very good."

"In any event, you should go home and rest," Recovery Girl. "I'll see you next Saturday, and I don't want you practicing your Quirk without my supervision, understand?"

"Okay," Izuku said with a yawn. He and Toshinori bid Recovery Girl farewell and got in the blond man's truck.

As they drove away, Toshinori could help but his protégé's struggle to stay awake.

"Tired?" He asked.

"No, no, I'm…I'm…" Izuku muttered out as he tried to fight against sleep, although the motion of the truck wasn't helping him stay awake.

"Hey, it's okay; sleep if you want. Maybe you'll think of a good name for your Quirk in your dreams," Toshinori said. "Why don't you lean your seat back? There's a button the side of it."

"O…kay…" Izuku said as he did just that, and finally, let sleep take hold. His eyes gently shut as the soft rhythm of his breathing slowed and his head lulled against the headrest.

'Jeez kid, you make me want to take a nap,' Toshinori thought with a smile. He drove in silence feeling light, happy even. A lot had changed for Toshinori ever since he'd met Izuku Midoriya, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

Sunday evening found Izuku and Inko sitting at the dinner table waiting for Hisashi to call them. He'd sent his wife an email yesterday saying he'd call them at 8:00, so they'd eaten an early dinner and washed all the dishes in preparation.

It was currently 9:27.

"Do think you he forgot," Izuku asked solemnly.

"What! No, I'm sure he'll call any minute," Inko said, although she didn't sound very confident.

Izuku looked down at his mother's phone, lying on the dining table, and sighed. 'It's not that surprising, he's a really busy guy.' The memory of their last talk came to the forefront of his mind, a sharp pain ached in his chest. 'But still…'

"I'm going to hang out in my room, maybe look over some notes and workout," Izuku said as he stood up.

His mother wanted to protest, but she took one more look at the clock and then her phone. "Alright."

Izuku turned and took one step, when suddenly-

*RING-RING. RING-RING.*

-the phone rang.

Shocked, Izuku looked to see 'My Hubby' as the Caller ID.

Inko immediately answered and put it on speakerphone.

" _Hello, anyone there?"_ Came Hisashi's husky voice, still shaking but far steadier than before.

"DAD!/HISASHI!" they cried out, both absolutely overjoyed.

" _Hey there, how are my two favorite people in the world?"_

"We're fine! We thought something had happened to you," Izuku said.

" _Really? I know I'm a little late, but it's not that bad."_

"Hisashi, dear, you said you'd call us at 8:00," Inko said a little annoyed.

" _So? It's only 8:30."_ Izuku and Inko looked at each other in surprise.

"Dad, it's 9:30 here, not eight," Izuku said.

The line went dead silent.

"Dad, are you-"

" _GODDAMNIT!"_ Hisashi yelled. Izuku and Inko jumped back in shock. _"You guys are eight hours ahead of me, not seven! Damn it, I'm so sorry."_

"Hey, it's okay, what matter is that you called," Izuku said reassuringly.

" _But it's still a pretty big screw up on my part; I hope you can forgive me."_

"Of course we forgive you," Inko said brightly. "Just make sure you call at the right time next time, okay?"

" _Okay."_

"So how's work been?" she asked.

And so, the Midoriya family, for the first time in a long time, talked as a family. Izuku told his father how his classes were going and what it was like working for Toshinori. Inko told her husband about the newest neighborhood gossip and how it had changed since he'd been gone. Hisashi told them about his job and coworkers, and the misadventures he'd gotten into. It was a great time for all of them.

" _So, I'm grocery shopping at Marks & Spencer, and I see the last bag of Prawn Cocktail potato crisps. I go to grab it and there's this white haired old biddy with fucking talons for nails who goes for it at the same time. I'm having a bad day and about ready to blow a gasket, so you know what I tell her?"_

"What?" Izuk asked with rapt attention. His mother sitting across from giggling up a storm.

" _I tell her 'Give me the damn bag you old hag, you'd die trying to open it anyway.'"_

Izuku looked at the phone slack-jawed while Inko's laughter grew even louder.

" _And then, this is the crazy part, then she fucking spits in my face! I let go of the chips and she takes off like a rocket, must've had a speed Quirk or something, and by the time I catch up she's already at the register paying for them. When the old biddy sees me again she puts on the biggest shit eating grin she muster and tells me to shove it where the sun doesn't shine and walks out the fucking door!"_

At this point Izuku and Inko had burst into uncontrollable laughter, tears streaming down their faces while they clutched their sides.

"Dad, that-that's awful! I can't believe you said that," Izuku said through fits of giggles.

"This is-this is why I was afraid of leaving your father alone," Inko managed to choke out before devolving back into laughter.

Bleary eyed, Izuku managed to take a look at the wall clock. It was 11:01, they'd been talking for more than an hour and a half.

"This has been really great, Dad, but it's getting late," Izuku said as he finally got his laughter under control. "I've got school tomorrow and I need to get to bed."

" _Oh, right. It's three here so it's eleven where you are."_

"Yeah," Izuku said with a yawn. "Anyway, night dad, talk to you later."

" _WAIT! Don't hang up yet."_

Surprised, Inko and Izuku looked at each other.

"What is it, honey?" Inko asked.

" _It's just, well, look I'll just come out and say it; I've been a real shit dad and shit husband ever since I went overseas, and I'm sorry."_

"N-no, it's okay," Izuku pleaded. "You've been really busy, and you're supporting us all by yourself, and-"

" _But that's no excuse! I left you guys alone for who knows how long, and it took you finding out you had a Quirk for us to talk. There's so much I've missed, moments we'll never get back; it's terrible. I promise, from now on I'm going to be a better dad and husband. We're going to talk like this every week, and I'm not leaving you two alone again."_

Izuku and Inko were… they were shocked, overwhelmed even. Ever since he'd taken his job overseas, communication with Hisashi had become more and more sparing until one day they'd stopped talking entirely. The only reason they knew he was even alive was because of the money he wired to them every month.

This… this felt like the first step to being a real family again.

" _Well, you two need to get to bed. Goodnight, love you."_

Izuku was taken aback by his father's bold statement but decided to roll with it. "Goodnight dad, I l-l-love you too."

Inko smiled, a warm, gentle feeling spread throughout her body, one she hadn't felt in a long time. "I love you too, honey. Now don't go pissing off any more old ladies, or you'll get an earful."

She and Hisashi laughed at her joke. _"Don't worry, I won't. I certainly learned my lesson. Love you sweetheart, goodnight."_

At that, Hisashi hung up. Izuku and Inko got ready for bed, both feeling lighter than they had in years.

* * *

 **AN: This chapter is over 6,000 words long and I stayed up way later than I should have to finish it, but I'm glad I did.**

 **It was a really fulfilling chapter to write and I hope you enjoyed reading it.**

 **Again, please leave a comment/review if you feel inclined, they're fuel for the Fanfiction Machine and I love to read what you have to say. And bonus points to anyone who figured out where Hisashi works from context clues.**

 **Scream at me on Tumblr at xpegasusuniverse or on Twitter JackJVilardi if you want.**

 **See you in the next one, and have a wonderful day.**


	5. Getting the Hang of It

The Healing Touch Chapter 5: Getting the Hang of It

By

Xpegasus

 **AN:**

 **Hey everyone, I just wanted to start off by thanking everyone who left a comment/review on Chapter 4, For Better or For Worse, you're all awesome. Your words help keep me motivated to write this story; I always look forward to what you guys have to say.**

 **So please, leave a comment/review if you feel inclined, I'd love to know your what you like, dislike, and find interesting about this chapter and the story overall. And I promise to try and respond to every person who writes a comment/review on this chapter.**

 **As some of you may know, this was supposed to mark Ochako's first appearance in The Healing, but the chapter ended up getting to so long that I had to end it where I did, but she will appear in chapter 6 which I'm already working on.**

 **But we do get a brief Bakugo POV this chapter, so I hope you enjoy that.**

 **And as always, you can talk to me on Tumblr at xpegasusuniverse and on Twitter at JackJVilardi, I'd love to talk you guys!**

* * *

Izuku's lungs felt like they were on fire. In fact, his whole body did. He threw a discarded bicycle onto the back of Toshinori's truck and then sat on the ground, panting like a dog. Today had been a particularly intense workout session at Dagobah Beach. It felt like his first day of training all over again. Izuku pulled an energy bar wrapped in green foil out his pocket and began munching on it.

"Good work today, kid." Izuku looked up to see Toshinori standing over him, a huge grin on his face. "You're doing much better than you were a month ago. Keep this up, and you'll be ready for One for All in no time."

Izuku smiled back. "Thanks, Yagi. I can feel the difference. It's still hard to believe I'm really doing this." Suddenly, Izuku's smile turned sour, his expression turning into one of frustration.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" Toshinori asked.

"What! Nothing's wrong," Izuku sputtered out. Toshinori narrowed his eyes.

The green haired boy relented and sighed. "It's just that I'm…I'm frustrated."

"Frustrated?" Toshinori asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why would you be frustrated? Your progress has phenomenal, better than I could have expected."

"I know, but I'm not talking about my physical conditioning," Izuku explained. "I'm talking about my Quirk."

"Oh," Toshinori said, feeling as though he'd just been slapped in the face after insulting someone.

Over the past month, Izuku had made great strides in building up his muscles to take on One for All. But his progress in training his Quirk had been… minimal at best, almost negligible.

Toshinori silently stood there twiddling his thumbs, unsure of what to say. 'I understand why he's so frustrated; a month without any progress would even get me down. Usually telling him that he'll get it eventually works, but there are only so many times I can say it before it loses all meaning.'

He wished he could give Izuku more advice, but he couldn't really speak from experience. Toshinori thought back to when he first began training to use One for All and the rapid-fire progress he made from day one. He almost wished he'd struggled more to use it so he could advise his protégé. Suddenly, Toshinori remembered something his teacher had told. 'That should lighten the mood.'

"Have you tried clenching your butt cheeks?" Toshinori asked.

Izuku looked his mentor, blinking in surprise. "I'm sorry, Yagi, but have I what?"

"Your butt cheeks," the blond man said. "Have you tried clenching them when you use your Quirk?"

"Is…is that how you use One for All?" Izuku asked, almost yelling in shock.

"Sort of," Toshinori said. "Why don't you give it a try next time during your next training session with Recovery Girl? It might just be the secret to unlocking your full potential."

Izuku gaped like fish at Toshinori's words, completely silent. But then he burst into a fit of giggles at the sheer ridiculousness of what he'd just heard.

"Oh my god, oh my god! I can't- BWAHAHAHA." Izuku clutched his sides, unable to control his laughter.

'Worked better than I expected,' Toshinori thought with a smile.

"Come on, let's go to Ginko's; you've earned it," he offered.

Izuku looked at his mentor and nodded, all dark thoughts banished from his mind for the moment. But even as he filled his belly with bowls of soup and curry, the creeping darkness returned to Izuku's mind. This time, he was determined to hide and not worry his mentor; after all, the Number 1 Hero didn't need any more stress in his life.

* * *

Wednesday found Katsuki Bakugo sitting class as usual, and he was pissed off. Honestly, that wasn't much of a surprise, he was always pissed off, but for the past month, he'd been more pissed off than usual. If you asked him why he was in such a foul mood, he'd most likely scream obscenities at you and then stomp away (there was also the chance he'd try to blow you up.)

But there was one sole reason Bakugo had been so angry for the past month and a half, and it was sitting in the classroom with him.

"Midoriya," Mr. Kita said, calling on the green haired boy. "Can you please answer the questions on the board?"

"Y-yes, sir," Izuku said nervously.

As Izuku started listing off the answers, all of them correct, Bakugo seethed in his seat.

'What a joke,' Bakugo thought, gripping his pencil so tightly it threatened to snap in half. 'Just because he's suddenly got a Quirk, everyone treats him like some miracle child. He's the same bastard he's always been! Why I am the only one who fucking sees it?'

Eventually, the bell rang, signaling the end of the period and the start of lunchtime.

Most of Bakugo's classmates pulled out their lunches from home, a few others left the classroom and to buy food at the student store. As Bakugo pulled out his bento, he saw Izuku get up out of the corner of his eye and make a beeline for the door.

"Bakugo." The blond boy looked up to see Mr. Kita standing over his desk with the same idiotic smile on his face as always.

'Fuck off you balding, dyed blond, creep,' Bakugo thought as his scowl deepened. He'd really wanted to say that out loud, but he was smart enough to know that would probably get sent to the principal's office. And yes, Bakugo could tell Mr. Kita dyed his hair. The sniveling bastard did a pretty great job of hiding that little tidbit from the rest of the class, but Bakugo could tell from day one that wasn't his natural color.

"What do you want?" The (naturally) blond boy asked.

The teacher grinned even wider. "I was just wondering if you'd like to have lunch with me in the teacher's room; you know, to get away from all these noisy kids."

Bakugo's eyes narrowed. 'Go to hell.'

"Not interested," he said as he unpacked his bento.

"Alright, I get it," Mr. Kita said with the same stupid smile on his face. "Maybe next time."

'I'll eat with you when you stop going bald.'

"Whatever," Bakugo said before digging into his lunch.

Mr. Kita walked off and exited the classroom, a little more pep in his step than usual.

'When is that bastard going to get it through his thick skull that I'm not interesting eating lunch with him,' Bakugo thought as chomped down on a piece of spicy chicken. He thought back to Izuku who'd run out of the classroom as soon the bell had rung and grit his teeth. 'Don't think I haven't noticed you kissing up to Comb Over, Deku.'

Ever since school had started, Bakugo's homeroom teacher would regularly invite him to have lunch in the teacher's room with him, and every time Bakugo turned him down. But recently he'd noticed something…strange; Mr. Kita's invitations to lunch, while still annoying and damnable regular occurrence, had become less frequent (which Bakugo was thankful for.) However, as Mr. Kita invited him less and less, Bakugo had noticed him becoming a hell of lot chummier with Izuku, and that. Pissed. Him. OFF!

'You think you're special just 'cause you've started showing your Quirk now? Well, you're wrong! You're the same fat loser you've always been!' Bakugo thought as he wolfed down his lunch, barely tasting it. 'I've figured out your stupid plan, Deku! You pretend to be Quirkless, laughing at me and everyone else all the while, and then reveal it just before UA's Entrance Exams to put the spotlight on you and become everyone's, damn darling! Makes me sick. Even with that stupid Quirk of yours, you won't get into UA! I won't let you beat me!'

Bakugo brought his chopsticks to his lips and bit down on…air?

He raised an eyebrow. 'The fuck?' He looked down and saw that he'd unknowingly eaten his lunch during his mental tirade. He snarled and stuffed his bento box back into his bag.

'Your stupid fucking plan won't work, you're not getting into UA, Deku.' Bakugo thought as he pulled out his math textbook and started studying, nothing better to do.

Bakugo was certain Izuku's plan wouldn't work, and there was no way this wasn't some sort of scheme the little weasel had cooked up. Bakugo didn't believe Izuku for a second when he said he'd 'just found out about it on Saturday' and still didn't. It was the only logical conclusion… at least that's what he told himself.

That had to be what happened, otherwise… otherwise… Bakugo didn't want to think about what the alternative meant.

* * *

Izuku stared at this his hands in silence, frustrated with and confused. 'What am I doing wrong? Why can't I control my Quirk?'

Yesterday had been another failure of a training session (in Izuku's eyes) with Recovery Girl. She'd yet again been forced to make an incision on his body for him to activate his Quirk. While he'd gotten ever so slightly better at regulating the amount of energy he used, he'd made zero progress on isolating specific areas of his body and was still restricted to full body aura.

Recovery Girl had reassured him that he would master his Quirk with time and that he was doing all could, it hadn't done much to raise Izuku's spirits.

'If I can't even use my Quirk, then what chance to have of mastering One for All,' Izuku thought as he looked down at his lap, oblivious to the world around him. 'Can I even become a hero?'

"Izuku?"

The green haired boy looked up, the voice snapping him out his stupor.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Inko asked with a soft voice, her face the epitome of motherly concern. "You've had this weird look on your face all day, and it's making me worried."

" _Yeah, kiddo."_ Izuku looked down at his mother's phone, Hisashi's concerned voice emanating from it. _"You've been dead quiet ever since I called, everything alright?"_

"I'm fine, really," Izuku said with a small smile, trying to dissuade their concern. "Work was just really tiring today; Mr. Yagi's got me working hard. All I need is a good night's sleep."

Inko went silent, her eyes never for a moment left her son. 'Why won't you tell me anything Izuku?' She sighed, resigned to the fact all she could do was silently support her baby. And this would be the end of it… well, it would have been if weren't for the fact that she wasn't alone this time.

" _Bull crap."_

Izuku and Inko looked down at the phone in shock, Hisashi's blunt statement coming completely out of left field.

"What?" Izuku asked, still trying to process what he'd just heard.

" _I said that it's bull crap,"_ Hisashi said a little awkwardly as if he was trying to find the right words. _"Izuku, if your mom thinks there something going then, well...look, you can talk us about anything, that's what we're here for. I know I've been a lousy dad, but I want you to know you don't have to hide anything from your mom or me."_

"D-dad, I'm really fine, honest," Izuku blurted out a little louder than he meant to.

"No," Inko said, drawing her son's full attention. "Izuku, you are not fine, you've been brooding and spacing out ever since you got home yesterday; it isn't like you." She struggled to hold herself together as tears formed at the corners of her eyes. "I want to help you, we want to help you, but we can't do that if you don't tell us what's wrong." Inko struggled to hold back her tears as waves of pent-up emotions came crashing down onto her.

Izuku was stunned, taken aback by his mother change in attitude. For the longest time, she'd been supporting him in silence as he came home with bruises and eyes red from crying, but refused to tell about what happened. It was a routine they'd fallen into when he was about… actually, Izuku couldn't remember when it had happened. It felt like they'd always done this awkward dance of obvious lies and unvoiced concerns.

'When was…when was the last time I opened up to her?' Izuku pondered to himself. 'How long has it been since we talked; really talk to each other? And how long have I been hurting her?' Izuku looked down at his once more as Hisashi tried to console his wife. 'Why do I need to keep this from her, from Dad too?' He clenched his fist. 'No, I don't need to keep it from them.'

"Y-you're right," Izuku forced out, grabbing the attention of his mom and dad. "The truth is I've been- I've been feeling really shitty lately!" He balled the fabric of his pants in his fists, gripping so hard his knuckles turned white. "I found out about my Quirk a month ago, but I-I-I haven't made a single bit progress on using it!"

Tears pricked the corners of Izuku's eyes, saying this, opening up to his mom and dad like this felt like pulling teeth. 'I can't stop now; I have to finish what I started, I can't keep hurting mom like this.'

"No matter what I do," Izuku said as he choked back tears, determined to tell his parents exactly what he'd been going through. "I can't seem to improve at all. It feels like I've hit a wall and I can't get past it! I don't know what to do!" Izuku tried to rub away the tears, but they just kept coming.

Suddenly, Izuku found himself in mother's embrace, his face buried in the crook of her neck.

"M-mom," Izuku asked, stunned. "What are you-"

"It's okay, baby, it's okay," Inko spoke softly into his ear. She rubbed slow circles into his back as she held onto Izuku and refused to let. "Let it all out, Izuku. I'm here for you."

And so he did, Izuku cried into his mother's for who knows how long. Hisashi stayed on the line, listening intently to his wife and child, ready to jump in a moment's notice. When Izuku had finally finished bawling, his eyes were puffy and red, dried tears stained his face, and honestly,

Izuku looked like a mess, and he knew it.

But that didn't matter; he just felt so relieved.

Inko smiled. "Better?"

"Yeah," Izuku said with a sniffle.

" _Well that's a relief,"_ Hisashi said, drawing their attention back to the phone. _"I'll tell you, kiddo; sometimes I think your mom's real Quirk is making people feel better. She's a real miracle worker."_

"Hisashi," Inko said, her cheeks turning red. "You're so sweet, but you're embarrassing me."

"But it's true, mom," Izuku proclaimed with a smile. "You really are awesome."

Her whole face turned scarlet at their words. "Oh, not you too."

Izuku and Hisashi shared a good-natured chuckle as Inko wriggled in her seat.

" _So anyway,"_ Hisashi said, concern evident in his voice. _"You were really worried about figuring out your Quirk? Give yourself a break; you've only known about for, what, five weeks? Six, tops? Kids who've been messing around with their Quirks for their whole lives don't have them figured out yet; there's nothing wrong with you, Izuku."_

"I know, dad," Izuku said with a sigh. "Logically I know I'm not doing anything wrong, but I'm frustrated. I've been practicing it, but I haven't made any progress."

" _Well…I don't think it matters."_

"Huh?" Izuku exclaimed, wide-eyed.

" _Shit! Wait-I didn't mean-god damn it, why am I so bad at this?!"_ Hisashi sighed in frustration. _"What I meant to say is that I think you're putting too much stock in your Quirk."_

"I…I don't get it," Izuku asked. "Are you saying I should stop practicing my Quirk?"

" _No, no, what I'm trying to say is, uhm, AH HA! Kiddo, let me ask you something; since you found out you had this Quirk, what's changed about you?"_

"What's changed about me?" Izuku parroted. He placed his hand on his chin, gently tugging at his lower lip in contemplation. After about a minute of thought, Izuku lowered his hand and sighed. "If I'm…if I'm being honest, not much."

Hisashi chuckled. _"Exactly."_

"What?" mother and son exclaimed together.

" _Izuku, look, you didn't magically change overnight after you found out about your Quirk; you're still the same kid you've always been. Your Quirk's a part of you, just like your hair, eyes, and ears, but that's not what makes you special. It's what people do with themselves that defines them, and you're no different. I'm sorry I haven't been there for you, but I've always been proud of you; I don't care if takes you 'til you're 40, or you master it tomorrow; you're what makes you special, not your Quirk. I love you, kiddo."_

Izuku was silent, shell-shocked. He stared at the phone, unsure of what to say as he felt tears form at the corners of his once again. But they weren't they weren't the tears of frustration and despair from before; they were tears joy.

"D-dad," Izuku's voice cracked as he tried to speak.

" _Wha- you're crying! Damn it; I fucked up again didn't I!?"_

"No way, Dad, you didn't mess up," Izuku said with a smile as tears rolled down his cheeks. "I'm crying because I… I…" He choked back his tears, determined to tell his dad how he felt. "I love you, Dad; I love you so much. Thank you."

" _I-Izuku,"_ Hisashi said as voice started to crack. _"D-d-damn it, you've got me happy crying too, and if I'm crying th-then, you've definitely set your mother off."_

"Izuku!" Inko yelled as she embraced her son, crying tears of herself. "My baby, I love you so much!"

" _I knew it!"_

"I love you too, Mom," Izuku said as he hugged his mom right back.

After a solid five minutes of mother and son crying tears of joy together, they'd finally seemed to run out of tears for the night.

" _Are you two good?"_

"Yeah," Izuku said, his voice back under control. "We're good."

" _Geez, everyone said I cried a lot when I was your age, but you and your mom take the cake."_ Hisashi chuckled.

"Honey," Inko said sternly, an angry pout on her face. "I don't think now's the right time for that."

" _Sorry, sorry,"_ he said, voice trembling ever so slightly. _"Seriously, it's a good thing to cry sometimes; it's better to let it all out than to let things fester and build up until… until it comes out on its own."_

Hisashi's voice sounded far more subdued at that last part, and Izuku could help but wonder why.

" _Anyway!"_ Hisashi said, his voice returned to normal. _"How about I tell you about work this week?"_

Hisashi went on to tell Izuku and Inko about how work had gone that week, which included a particularly funny story about a co-worker who brought a sheep into the office. Mother and son had a good laugh and told Hisashi about how their week had gone. Inko had a particularly interesting story about a purple haired boy with cat ears and a cat tail who got stuck at the top of a very tall tree she on her way home from the supermarket.

"The poor boy," she said while trying not to giggle. "I feel awful for laughing, but I can't help it. He'd dropped his phone on the way up, and his girlfriend had to call the fire department. He looked absolutely mortified when they came and got him down."

Izuku couldn't stop himself from laughing. 'This is too funny, but why does that sound familiar?' He yawned and turned to look at the clock; it read 10:52. 'It's that late already?'

"Hey, Dad," Izuku said. "It's almost 11 o'clock here, and I've got school tomorrow."

" _Really? Guess we lost track of time. Well, you and your mom should get to bed. Night, Izuku; night, honey; love you both."_

"Night, Dad."

"Goodnight, honey."

Inko reached to turn off her phone, but suddenly-

"Hey, Dad?"

-Izuku spoke up.

She turned to look at her son as he fidgeted in his seat.

" _What is it, kiddo?"_

"It's just, uhm," Izuku said in a soft voice as he twiddled his thumbs. "Before we went to bed, I just wanted to ask: how do you use your Quirk? Mom too."

" _Huh?"_

"Huh?" Inko parroted.

"I know my Quirk's completely different from yours and Mom's," Izuku explained. "But I'm still your son, so maybe if I know how you guys use your Quirks, I'll have a better grasp on mine."

"Of course, sweetheart," Inko said with a warm smile.

" _Sure, guess there's no harm in it."_

"Awesome," Izuku said. "Let me grab my journal so I can notes." Izuku ran to his room and grabbed 'Hero Analysis for the Future No. 13' along with a pen and ran back to the kitchen. "Okay, I'm ready."

" _Guess I'll go first: the first thing you should know is that my fire breath comes from my stomach, not my lungs. I produce a gas that's like Methane; I can make more of it by contracting my stomach muscles; I hold for anywhere between 2-5 seconds, and then I release it into my mouth, and it ignites as I blow it out."_

Izuku furiously took down notes as his father spoke, hanging on every word. "I see it's a bit like a gas burner or a blowtorch." He turned to his mother with inquisitive eyes. "What about you Mom?"

"Well, it's a little hard to describe," Inko said. "You know I attract small objects, but it's like…" She struggled to find a way to describe her Quirk, gently tugging on her bottom lip with her thumb and pointer finger. "Oh," she exclaimed as her face lit up. "It's like having one of those claw grabber things; I 'grab' onto things with a telekinetic hand and then I pull it towards me, but I can only use it on things I can hold in my hands and actually carry."

Hisashi snickered.

"Honey," Inko admonished with a pout.

" _Sorry, but I couldn't help think of you with a claw grabber thingy for an arm."_

Her face softened, and she couldn't help but smile. "Well if I have a claw for an arm, you'd have a lighter for a head."

Hisashi let out an ugly snort. _"Wouldn't that be an interesting Quirk."_

"Mom?" Izuku asked, grabbing his mother's attention.

"Oh," she said. "Was I helpful, Izuku?"

Izuku nodded. "Yeah, it was really interesting. Dad's too. Although," he said looking sheepish. "You and Dad didn't really answer my Question."

Inko raised an eyebrow.

"I think it's super cool how your Quirks work, but I wanted to know how you _used_ them," Izuku explained, putting his hand on his chin. "Maybe if I put it another way; how do you guys call upon your Quirks?"

Inko stared at him a like a deer caught in the headlights. "Call… call upon it?"

" _Uhm, kiddo, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about."_

"It's like, what do you think about when you use it," Izuku said. "Is there a special phrase you repeat to yourself, or maybe something else?"

The line went dead silent for a while Inko stood off to the side.

"Dad?"

" _Huh, don't know how to tell you this, but I don't really "call upon" or "summon" my Quirk. I just…do it."_

"Oh, I see," Izuku said. He turned to his mother, a pleading look in his eyes.

Inko shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't help. It's like your father said, I just do it."

Izuku sighed, a defeated look on his face. "It's okay," he said softly. "Thanks for trying to help, I appreciate it." He gave a sort of sad smile, but Inko could still see the sparkle of determination in her son's green eyes.

"It's okay, sweetheart. I know you'll get the hang of it," Inko said reassuringly.

" _Listen to your mom, kiddo, she's one smart cookie; sweet as one too."_

Inko blushed while Izuku giggled at his father's joke.

"Anyway, Mom and I should get to bed," Izuku said. "Thanks for telling me about your Quirk, I love you Dad."

"Love you, honey," Inko said. "I hope you have a great week at work."

" _Love you guys too; we'll talk next week. Goodnight."_ At that, Hisashi hung up.

Izuku and Inko said their goodnights, got ready for bed and went to sleep.

* * *

Izuku felt sand between his toes as hot, dry wind buffeted his face

'Where am I?' Izuku thought as he looked around. He saw an endless, empty desert of reddish-brown sand. 'This isn't normal…I think. Maybe it is?'

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye, he saw something. Lying in the sand it shimmered and glittered, sunlight refracting off its brilliant surface. He walked over to it and found it was a heart, a heart carved from an emerald greener than all the world's forests. It fit in Izuku's palm, but it thrummed with energy like an excited child, waiting for the moment to release it all.

He turned the heart over in his hands, examining it again and again, taking in every cut, edge, and surface; drinking its incredible color. The heart was the most beautiful thing Izuku had ever seen.

'But, what do I do with it?'

Something fell from the sky gently landed on Izuku's head. He grabbed it and discovered it was a note, white as a bone with only two words written on it in ink black as night.

 **DO IT**

'Do what?' Izuku asked himself. He looked down at the heart once more, but then noticed something new. There was a hole in his chest-his left pectoral to be precise-just about the size his palm.

He looked at the hole.

He looked at the heart.

He looked at the hole.

He looked at the heart.

The hole.

The heart.

The hole.

The heart.

Hole.

Heart.

'Does the heart…go in the hole?' Izuku knit his brows. He pulled on his lower lip in contemplation. 'The heart goes in the hole, but why?'

Izuku looked down at the heart once more, mesmerized by its deep, brilliant green.

'Green,' Izuku thought. 'Just like my hair; just like my eyes; just like my…aura.' He gasped.

'The heart goes in the hole because…because it's my heart,' Izuku thought as the truth finally came to him. 'The heart is a part of me.'

With slight trepidation, Izuku brought the heart to his chest. It began to vibrate with excitement and slid into his chest with the ease of a hand in a glove. The hole closed, Izuku felt himself overflowing with power, more power than he knew what to with.

'It's my heart, my power, a natural part of me.' He knew what to do.

Izuku dropped to his knees and buried his hands in the scorching sands. He closed his eyes and concentrated, and then-

* * *

" _A NEW DAY IS HERE!"_ All Might's voice rang through the air.

Izuku slowly opened his eyes. 'What the heck?'

" _A NEW DAY IS HERE!"_

He looked over and saw his alarm clock, a miniature of All Might standing on top a platform with a red LED screen. The clock read 6:30.

" _A NEW DAY IS HERE!"_ it sounded off again. Izuku reached over and turned it off before it could go off a fourth time.

He sat up, stretch, and got out of bed, shivering as his feet touched the floor. He showered, brushed his teeth, and got dressed in his school uniform. When he got to the kitchen, his mother had already finished preparing the first half of his breakfast with the other half on the way.

"Morning, Mom," Izuku greeted with a yawn.

"Good morning, Izuku," she said as finished preparing a scrambled egg roll. "Did you sleep well? We got to bed a lot later than usual."

"Yeah, I slept fine," Izuku before he dug into the mountain of food in front of him. "I haff uh weer weem."

"Swallow your food before you talk."

Izuku swallowed his mouthful of food and sighed. "Sorry. Anyway, I had a weird dream."

"Weird dream?" Inko asked as she plated more food. "What was it about?"

He rubbed his chin as he chewed another mouthful of food. He swallowed and said "I think I was on a beach, no, I was in a desert and I saw something in the sand. It was sparkly, like a diamond, and then I put it in a hole?"

"Why would drop a diamond down a hole in the ground?"

Izuku shook his head. "No, I don't think it was in the ground, it was in… it was in…" He trailed off, struggling to recall where the hole was. "Huh, I don't remember where it was."

Inko smiled. "Sounds like a crazy dream, but I'm just glad you slept well, sweetheart. Don't want you falling asleep in class."

"You're right, thanks, Mom," Izuku said with a smile before turning back to his breakfast. But as the chopsticks were halfway to his mouth, he stopped.

'Sweetheart,' he thought eyes wide. 'Sweet…heart…'

"My heart," Izuku blurted out.

"What!" Inko shrieked. "What's wrong your heart?!"

"No; the shiny thing, from my dream, was my heart," Izuku said, trying to calm his mother. "It was an emerald cut into the shape of a heart, and there was a hole in my chest where my heart was supposed to be. I put heart in my chest and then-" he cut himself off, eyes wide in shock.

"Izuku," Inko asked tentatively. "Are you al-"

"THAT'S IT!" Izuku yelled, jumping out of his chair and knocking it over. "I FIGURED OUT WHAT MY DREAM MEANS!"

His mother shrieked, staring at her son like he'd grown a second head.

"Your phone! Hand me your phone!" Izuku asked.

Panicked, Inko reached into her pocket and threw it at her son.

"AAAHHH!" Izuku caught the phone a hair's breadth from impacting his face. "Thank you." He immediately went to her contacts and called his, putting it on speaker phone.

" _Huwah?"_ Hisashi said, still half asleep. _"Who-*yawn*-who's there?"_

"Uh, hi Dad."

"… _Izuku, what the hell are you doing calling me right now?"_

"Sorry," Izuku said sheepishly. "But it's important; I figured it out."

"… _Figured what out?"_

"Uhm, Izuku," Inko said, catching her son's attention. "I'm confused too; what's going on?"

"My Quirk, I finally figured out what I'm doing wrong." Izuku felt invigorated, the fire of determination reignited inside him. "I've been looking at my Quirk like it's something supernatural, something that needs to be summoned or called upon to serve a purpose. But that's wrong; my Quirk, all Quirks, are just natural functions of our bodies. The answer was staring me in the face the whole time, but since I thought I was Quirkless for so long, I lost sight of it."

" _Woah,"_ Hisashi said, now fully awake. _"That's freaking incredible! How'd you figure it out?"_

"What you said last night, how your Quirks are something just 'do,' not summon or call upon," Izuku said with a huge smile. "Oh, and after I stuck the crystal heart inside my chest."

"… _You stuck the what in the where?"_

Inko gaped at her son, utterly baffled by his words. "Are…are you okay?"

Izuku deflated at their reactions. 'Right, they don't know.'

He went to explain his dream to his parents as he finished his breakfast. Afterward, he bid his parents farewell and ran out the door to school.

" _He's incredible, isn't he,"_ Hisashi said, his voice strong and filled with pride. _"Figured out what he was doing wrong because of a dream and some offhanded comments; he's going to do incredible things when he grows up."_

"I know," Inko said, a bittersweet smile on her face.

" _Well, looks like I won't getting back to sleep for a while…so, what are you wearing?"_

"Wha-wha-what!?" Inko blurted out, her face scarlet.

" _It's a simple question; what's the pretty lady I'm talking to wearing?"_

'Oh my,' Inko thought. Swallowing air, she picked up her phone and went to her bedroom.

* * *

On his way to school that morning, Izuku had made sure to call Toshinori and tell him about the exciting new development. Toshinori congratulated his protégé and told him to he'd pick him up after school and drive them to Recovery Girl's house for a special extra lesson.

"So," Recovery Girl said as she looked Izuku over. "You're sure about this?"

"Yes," Izuku replied, sitting on the examination table in his boxer and the wires hooked up to his chest and arms. "I think…I know what to do." He looked over to Toshinori as stood in the corner. He flashed his student a smile and gave a thumbs up.

Izuku closed his eyes and took a deep breath, centering himself, focusing on his Quirk. 'Don't force it. My Quirk is a natural function of my body, just like breathing or walking.' He felt for the energy inside himself and found it, but he didn't grab or pull at it. Izuku felt himself breathe in and breathe out, concentrating on the energy and for the first genuinely feeling it.

The energy was like a massive reservoir of water, and he could feel it slowly trickling out of him. 'That must be my passive radiation,' Izuku thought idly. 'Now, how do I control it?'

As he breathed, Izuku felt the energy…shift, expanding and rippling. It continued like this, every breath causing some new change in the reservoir until he felt it. He was hard to describe how he knew what to do, but did it and opened the floodgates, letting the energy flow.

As quickly as they'd been opened, he closed them.

Izuku opened his eyes, panting. He felt tired, more tired than usual after one of these sessions.

"Here you go," Recovery Girl said as she handed Izuku the bowl of gummies.

He threw manners out the window scarfed them down like a voracious wolf. After devouring two-thirds of the bowl, Izuku finally looked at Toshinori and Recovery Girl and took their gaping expressions.

"Well, looks like you can finally use your Quirk without hurting yourself," Recovery Girl said with a smile. "We still need to work on controlling your output, but this is a huge leap forward."

Izuku tried to say something but gave a tired smile instead.

"I'm proud of you, Young Midoriya," Toshinori said. He walked over and gave Izuku a stiff pat on the back. "I knew you had it in you. You'll get the hang of it in no time; then it's off to UA."

"Thanks, Yagi," Izuku replied before letting out a great yawn. "Now I think…I'm gonna…take a…" At that moment, he collapsed on the examination table. Toshinori and Recovery Girl looked on and saw a bright smile on his sleeping face.

'Have a nice nap, you deserve it,' Toshinori thought as Recovery Girl handed him a blanket and draped it over Izuku's sleeping form.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **FFFFIIIINNNNAAAALLLLYYYY! I finally finished this chapter!**

 **I'll tell you, the amounts of rewrites and revisions I did on this chapter is crazy. If you think the ending is rushed…it definitely is, I just wanted to be done with it and get it published before it had been 8 Billion Years since the last update.**

 **Anyway, as before, please leave a comment/review if you feel so inclined; I love feedback, and it fuels the fanfiction machine. I promise to respond to every comment/review I receive**.

 **Next chapter Izuku will finally name his Quirk and will be Ochako's first appearance. I can't wait!**

 **Oh, and come and scream at me on Tumblr at xpegasusuniverse and on Twitter at JackJVilardi.**

 **Hope you all have a wonderful day, and I'll see ya in the next one.**


	6. What's in a Name?

The Healing Touch Chapter 6: What's in a Name?

By

Xpegasus

 **AN:**

… **Hi guys and gals. Sorry for my absence, real-life stuff happened and…I have no excuses. But I'm back, and nothing can stop me now!**

… **Except maybe college…which starts again in a few days…FUCK!**

 **I just wanted to give a great big thank you to everyone who left a comment/review on the last chapter. I can't tell you how much it means to me every time I see someone leave one and then read it. Writing this fanfic has been one of the most fun and most rewarding things I've done in years, and it's all because of you guys, the people who comment/review.**

 **Once again, I promise to respond to everyone who leaves a comment/review.**

 **This chapter marks Ochako's first appearance in the story, and this is the chapter where Izuku names his Quirk.**

 **Also, special thanks to Silvan Sagevale for coming up the name for Izuku's Quirk, thank you so much, your name was way better than of the ones I came up with.**

* * *

Three months had passed since Izuku's incredible breakthrough. In that time he had managed to increase his control over his Quirk tremendously, being able to regulate his energy output with much greater precision and localize his aura to smaller areas of his body.

In fact, that's what he was practicing right now.

Izuku sat on the examination table in Recovery Girl's house once more; the wires hooked up his bare chest.

Recovery Girl stood to the side as she watched the monitors. "Alright," she said as she turned to Izuku. "Start off with as low an aura you can manage."

"Right," Izuku replied deftly. He closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling the well of the energy inside of him; as gently and slowly as he could manage, he opened the floodgates ever so slightly and let the energy flow.

As he concentrated, Recovery Girl watched as Izuku's body was enveloped in a soft green aura. If she could describe Izuku's first attempt at using his Quirk under her supervision as a fireplace, the energy radiating off of him now was like candlelight.

"Very good," Recovery Girl said as she looked between Izuku and the monitors, jotting down notes. "Now try and focus on your hands so only they radiate healing energy."

He nodded wordlessly, concentrating on regulating his Quirk. 'I've got this; I can do this; just divert the energy from my entire body to my hands.' As he felt the energy flowing through his body, Izuku imagined it like water running through rivers. His next step was simple; block off the other rivers, so it flowed only to his hands and arms but maintain the same level of energy.

Recovery Girl watched as Izuku's aura flickered and shifted. Slowly but surely, the light around his hands and forearms grew brighter, the color becoming more intense. Her gaze shifted as she looked Izuku up and down, and noticed that around the rest of his body the aura had remained the same, like pale green candlelight.

"You can stop now," Recovery Girl said, and Izuku's aura faded completely. She handed him the bowl of gummies, and he immediately started eating. "That was a good try; you were able to focus on your hands and only increase the output there."

"Hank hoo," Izuku forced out through a mouthful of gummies. He swallowed, and immediately a frustrated frown marred his face. "But I couldn't shut off the rest of my body; I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

At that, Recovery Girl smacked him with her cane-

"OW!"

-and a scowl appeared on her wrinkled face.

"How many times do I have to tell you before it gets through that thick skull of yours?!" Recovery Girl shouted, wagging her cane in Izuku's face like a finger. "You're not doing anything wrong; your body's just not used to do this yet. I swear you young people have no patience; you want everything now." She sighed, putting the cane down and leaning on it. "Well, at least you've got the drive to work hard. The attitude of yours will be what gets you into UA."

Her eyes shifted to the bottom drawer of her desk. "And it's what drives me to drink," she whispered as the tip of her tongue ghosted over her lips.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that last part," Izuku asked innocently.

"Never mind," she exclaimed. "Anyway, do you have the time?"

"Uh, yeah," Izuku replied. He reached over to his pants and grabbed his phone. "It's 12:34."

"That's strange," she said as she rubbed her chin. "All Might should have been back by-"

"I AM HERE!" a voice thundered through the house as Izuku and Recovery Girl jumped out their skin.

They turned to see Toshinori standing in the doorway in his muscle form with a mountain of boxes in his arms.

"Sorry I'm late," he said as he placed the boxes on one side of the room. "Traffic was a lot worse than I thought it would be; took me twice as long to get back from UA as it took to drive there." He turned to them with his signature bright and massive smile plastered across his face.

"YOU FOOL!" Recovery Girl screamed as she beaned Toshinori in the head with a stress relief ball. In a billow of steam, Toshinori deflated into his skin and bones civilian form.

"What the hell's wrong with you!?" Toshinori shouted as he rubbed his head.

"What's wrong with me is stupid showboaters like you," Recovery Girl growled as she jabbed her cane at the blond man. "You think I want the Paparazzi swarming my house like the vultures they are just because Japan's No.1 Hero showed up at my front door!"

"Geez, calm down, I was only outside in my hero form for a second and I made sure no one was around to see. Besides, is that any way to treat a friend, especially one who just did you a favor," he retorted as he turned back to the boxes. "And these boxes are so heavy I didn't have a choice."

Recovery Girl sighed. "I suppose you're right; thank you, All Might."

"Uhm, excuse me." Toshinori and Recovery Girl turned to Izuku who stared at them with widened eyes. "But what exactly did you have Yagi pick up?"

"Oh, it's machine to make gummies," Recovery Girl explained. "I asked UA's support department, the boys and girls who make all the heroes' costumes and gadgets, to build me something that would make more potent gummies. If they did it right, a single gummy from this machine would have the calories, minerals, and nutrients of about a hundred of the gummies in that bowl." She pointed to said bowl that Izuku was still holding.

Izuku nodded in understanding. "I see…but why?"

"Two reasons," she stated as she held up two fingers. "First, it's going to cost me a lot less than ordering more every week or so; second, when you're out in the field as a Pro Hero, it's not exactly efficient to carry around bags of candy with you, is it?"

Izuku chuckled. "I guess not."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Recovery Girl exclaimed. She turned to Toshinori. "All Might, there should be another package about the size of a shoe box along with the parts for the machine, can you grab it for me?"

"Alright," Toshinori said as he reached to grab the smallest box from the top of the pile and handed it to Recovery Girl.

"Thank you," she said. Recovery Girl opened the box to reveal what looked like three silver pieces of jewelry, two bracelets, and a choker.

"You had the Support Department make you jewelry?" Toshinori asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't think that's what they're supposed to do."

"They're not for me, they're for Midoriya," she snapped back.

"Well, uh, thank you, Recovery Girl," Izuku said with a sheepish smile. "But I'm not really a jewelry kind of guy."

"These aren't pieces of jewelry," Recovery Girl explained. "These are finely tuned medical devices; when you wear them, I'll be able to get an accurate reading of your vital signs and your energy output. They'll wirelessly send the information to my phone, my work computer, and my home computer."

"Whoa, that's so cool," Izuku said as he held one of the bracelets in his hands, turning it over and examining it. "Are you getting rid of the old machine?"

"Heavens no, the thing's barely two years old. The reason I got these things made is so we could take your training outside of my house." Recovery Girl walked over to her desk and brought back a pink, spiral bound notebook. "I've decided to start you on the next step of your Quirk training; healing other people."

"R-really," Izuku muttered, surprised by her words. "A-a-are you sure? I mean, shouldn't get some more practice in?"

"Actually, I see where she's coming from," Toshinori said as he rubbed his chin. "There's only so much you can do just practicing on yourself. You need real experience healing stuff like broken bones, and we're not about to start breaking your arms to train your Quirk."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Izuku muttered as he twiddled his thumbs. "But couldn't I just practice on you, Yagi?"

Toshinori smiled. "I appreciate the offer, Young Midoriya, but you've already done enough for me. Besides, my injuries aren't exactly what you'll be healing out in the field." He gestured to his body, five months ago when he and Izuku had met Toshinori had been nothing but skin and bones, now…well he was still skin and bones but it wasn't as bad as before. He'd gained about 15 pounds, an extra hour in his Hero Form, and a bit more color in cheeks. Of course, you'd never know about this when he changed into his Hero Form and turned into a tower of pure muscle.

"I…I guess you're right," Izuku muttered. "But I still think I should actively use my Quirk on you. I know my passive radiation is healing you, but if I-"

"Stop," Toshinori said, holding up his hand. "Look, Young Midoriya, I appreciate what you're offering, but I don't want you to push yourself too hard. You're already working hard to train your body to handle One for All and master your Quirk; I don't want you to worry about me."

Izuku's face fell for a moment, frustrated, but then he looked back at Toshinori with a smile. "Okay, I promise I'll focus on myself for right now. But I want you to make a promise too; when I graduate, you'll let me heal you as best I can."

"Alright, guess we've got a deal," Toshinori said with a light chuckle. "I'll be looking forward to it."

"Now that we've got that settled, perhaps you two can help me with this?" Izuku and Toshinori turned to see Recovery Girl pointing at the pile of boxes. "This thing isn't going to put itself together, and we need it ready for his first visit next week."

The three stared at the brown boxes for a moment and let out a collective sigh, dreading the prospect of putting the machine together.

* * *

" _I'm telling you, my boss is crazy,"_ Hisashi said over the phone. _"Last week he went on a trip to Ireland and came back with a sheep, and he's been bringing it into the office ever since."_

"That doesn't sound very sanitary," Inko asked, surprised. "Is he allowed to do that?"

" _I don't think so, but no one wants to risk their neck getting him in trouble. Besides, the sheep doesn't really do anything; it just follows him around and baas for attention."_

"You work with some…interesting people, dad," Izuku said as he tried to imagine a sheep wandering around an office building.

" _No kidding! He named it Oliver Jr. Who the bloody hell names a sheep after himself!?"_

Izuku and Inko burst into a fit of giggles.

" _Anyways,"_ Hisashi said, grabbing their attention. _"Have you figured out what you're gonna call your Quirk, kiddo?"_

Izuku blinked in surprised and sighed. "No, not yet." He leaned back and stared at the ceiling, lips pressed into a thin line. "Every name I come up with is either taken or just doesn't feel right."

" _Why don't you use the name I suggested, it's catchy!"_ Hisashi declared cheerfully.

Izuku covered his face with his hands and groaned. "Dad, no. I'm not calling it that."

" _Oh, come on! The Healing Touch is a great name! It's dramatic, mysterious, and sounds like something out of a comic book."_

"It is, but it's a misnomer," Izuku grumbled. "My Quirk isn't touch based, so the name doesn't make any sense."

"Why not just call it Healing Aura," Inko chimed in. "It says what it is on the tin."

"I guess, but it's a little boring," Izuku said.

'Plus, it sounds too similar to Recovery Girl's Quirk, Heal,' he thought.

He looked at his mother and continued. "I want my Quirk's name to be something that pops; something that rolls off the tongue and sticks in your head." Izuku's eyes were sparkling with excitement as he spoke.

"Oh, have you come up with any cool names?" Inko asked.

His shoulders slumped, and his face fell. "No, every name I come up with is either boring or unoriginal."

" _Ah hell, don't worry about too much,"_ Hisashi said in a rather chipper voice. _"The perfect name will come to you when it comes to you."_

Izuku smiled. "Yeah, guess you're right, dad."

" _Anyway, it's getting kind of late where you are. Shouldn't you get to bed?"_

Izuku looked at the clocked and saw it read 10:10. "Oh yeah, guess I should. I don't want to doze off in class." He gave a nervous laugh, and his eyes darted away. "Goodnight, mom, goodnight, dad; love you guys."

" _Night, kiddo. Love you too."_

"Goodnight, Izuku. I love you. Sleep tight."

As Izuku went to his bedroom, Inko stared at his retreating form with lips pressed into a thin line.

" _Inko, you still there?"_

"Huh," Inko exclaimed, snapping out of her thoughts. "Oh, I'm still here, honey."

" _You went all quiet for a second. Everything okay?"_

She sighed. "I think Izuku is hiding something from me; he seemed nervous when he talked about going to school."

" _I wouldn't worry about too much; we all had secrets when we teenagers. But, if you're that anxious, you should go with your gut. They call it 'maternal instinct' for a reason, love."_

"I suppose you're right," she said softly. "I'll ask him about it in a few days if I think it's really bothering him."

" _Sounds like a plan, Koko."_

Inko blinked in surprise and then giggled.

" _Huh, what's so funny?"_

"Nothing, Hisashi," Inko replied. "It's just, well, it's been a while since you called Koko."

" _Oh,"_ Hisashi explained. _"Jeez, you're right, the last time I called you that- god I can't remember."_

"I can't remember either," she said as played with her hair, her cheeks a soft pink. "I'd forgotten how much I missed it."

" _Well then, how about we celebrate with a little fun,"_ he said in a singsong voice.

"Honey," Inko said with a cherry red blush. "You know our baby's just down the hall. Besides, it's getting late, and I should get to bed too."

" _Ah, bloody hell! Alrighty then, sweet dreams, Koko bean. Love you."_

"Love you too, honey buns, goodnight." With that, she hung up and went to her bedroom, a spring in her step but worries still lurking in the back of her mind.

* * *

Have you ever met someone that just felt…off to you? It's not that they're necessarily rude, or mean, or that they've done anything bad. But when you met them, you had a gut reaction that told that you weren't going to like this person.

That was how Izuku Midoriya felt when his homeroom teacher, Mr. Kita, first invited him to have lunch in the teacher's room with him. Despite this, you'd be hard pressed to make Izuku say anything overtly negative about his bleached blond teacher.

Well, there was one bad thing Izuku might say about Mr. Kita.

'He loves the sound of his voice,' Izuku thought as his teacher rambled on and on, the subject completely lost on Izuku as he subconsciously blocked him out. Once again, Mr. Kita had managed to track Izuku and invite him to have lunch together.

Over the past few months, Izuku and Mr. Kita had developed…a routine might be the best way to put it. Every day, Izuku would hurry out of the classroom at the sound of lunch bell and try to find a place to eat away from Mr. Kita, and Mr. Kita would try his best to track the green haired boy down and invite him to the teacher's room.

Izuku had gotten pretty good at avoiding the (dyed) blond man. On the other hand, Mr. Kita had become rather adept at tracking his student down. Overall, Izuku managed to avoid Mr. Kita about 50% of the time and could eat his massive lunch in relative peace. The other 50% of the time Mr. Kita managed to track Izuku down and invite to have lunch together, and despite how uncomfortable the man made him feel, Izuku couldn't bring himself to turn down the invitation.

After all the time they'd spent together, Izuku had learned one undeniable fact about Mr. Kita- the man love the sound of his voice more than life itself. Most of their _conversations_ consisted of Mr. Kita talking at Izuku endlessly while the green haired boy occasionally nodded or made sounds of agreement while keeping an eye on the clock, waiting for lunch to be over. Although, Izuku honestly preferred Mr. Kita talking _at_ him rather than talking _to_ him.

"So, Izuku," Mr. Kita said in his sickeningly sweet voice, giant and unnerving smile still plastered across his face. "How was your weekend?"

"Fine," Izuku answered stiffly as he cringed internally from his first name coming from Mr. Kita's mouth, although managing to stop himself from physically flinching. "It was…fine."

Mr. Kita's smile grew even wider. "Did you do anything interesting?"

"No," Izuku said tersely. "Same as usual, nothing different."

"Oh, come one, you must've done something interesting; watch anything on TV, read any good books, listen to any cool podcasts? I'm all ears." Mr. Kita's eyes were practically sparkling as he spoke, they sent shivers down Izuku's spine.

"Uhm, well- I guess I did all those things," Izuku managed to choke out.

He went dead silent while Mr. Kita kept staring at him, the same smile on the (dyed) blonde's face. This was why Izuku was glad most of the time his homeroom teacher talked _at_ him rather than _to_ him. Whenever Mr. Kita asked him a question, Izuku would freeze up, paralyzed by his teacher's ever-present grin.

"Um… well, I guess I-"

*BRRRRIIIINNNNG*

" !" Izuku blurted out before he bolted out the door.

Mr. Kita blinked in surprise but then smiled. "That went well."

"Really," another teacher with curly orange hair and brown eyes said as he poured himself a cup of coffee from a thermos. "He bolted as soon as the bell rang. That kid is fucking terrified of you."

"He's not leaving before the bell rings anymore; that's an improvement," Mr. Kita said with the sly smile. "Midoriya is warming up to me; then it's a one-way ticket to easy street."

The orange haired man gave Mr. Kita a flat look. "You're delusional."

"You're just jealous you didn't get to him first, Honda," the blond man said in an almost sing-song voice. "Imagine it; with an amazing Quirk like his, everyone will want a piece of Midoriya when he graduates, and I'll have all the credit for molding him into the great young man he'll become."

He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, a manic look in his eyes. 'Soon enough, he'll be putty in my hand.' Mr. Kita's mind was consumed by images of Izuku going on to be wealthy and successful and (most importantly) sharing it with his _inspirational_ homeroom teacher who guided Izuku and pushed him to succeed.

Mr. Kita felt bubbles welling up inside him, giddy with excitement. A few chuckles escaped his lips before he burst into excited laughter, spinning around his chair the whole while.

Mr. Honda looked at the blond man with a twitching eye. He pulled out a flask from his desk and poured a generous portion in his cup of coffee. "It's too early for Kita's bullshit," Mr. Honda grumbled under his breath.

"Honda," a woman with a dark chocolate bob and pink eyes said, catching his attention. "It's one o'clock."

He raised an eyebrow and took a sip. "Your point, Sasaki?"

She sighed. "Give it here."

Mr. Honda handed Ms. Sasaki the flask, and she put more than a few splashes into her own mug; all the while Mr. Kita span in his chair, laughing like a madman.

* * *

It was 10:00 on Saturday when Recovery Girl arrived at Musutafu General Hospital with Izuku in tow. She was dressed in a white blouse, a ruffled pink skirt, a tan shawl, and black slips-ons.

Izuku wore a black t-shirt with 'ALL MIGHT' across the chest in yellow lettering surrounded in red, white, and blue stars, khaki shorts, and his favorite red boots. Today he also wore a green and white checkered hip bag along with bracelets, and choker Recovery Girl had made for him.

His eyes darted around nervously as he walked, sweat on his brow. "Wow, they look swamped in work; are you sure it's okay for us to just come in?"

"Now, now, there's no need to worry," Recovery Girl said. "I called them this morning and told them I was bringing you with me; they'll have picked out a patient for you by now."

"Oh, right," Izuku squeaked. "A patient picked out, for me. The person I'll be healing, with my Quirk that I will use to…heal them." Izuku went silent before forcing out an unnerving laugh that drew the attention of several staff and patients.

Recovery Girl stared at Izuku as if he'd suddenly grown a second head. "Are you alright?"

"Fine!" Izuku blurted out.

She raised an eyebrow.

Izuku sighed. "Alright, the truth is I'm nervous. I know I've technically been healing Yagi since we met, but that's just my passive radiation; it doesn't mean I can actively heal other people. What if it doesn't work?"

"Calm down, Midoriya," Recovery Girl placated. "I know your Quirk will work; you've got nothing to fear."

"You're sure; absolutely, 100 percent sure it'll work?" Izuku asked, almost shaking.

"Yes," she stated. Recovery Girl grabbed his hand. "You're going to do great, I promise."

Izuku went still for a moment, he then let out a breath, and his shoulders went slack. "Okay."

Recovery Girl smiled. "Well, glad you got that out of your system. Before we check in, do you remember our cover story?"

Izuku nodded. "I'm your grandnephew via your sister who's come with you to train my Quirk, is that right?"

"Got it in one," she said with a grin.

They walked for about a minute, and he found himself standing in front of a receptionist next to Recovery Girl.

"Ah, Ms. Shuzenji, its great see you again," the receptionist said with a smile on her face. "And this must be your grandnephew."

"Yes, this is Izuku Midoriya, my sister's grandchild," Recovery Girl said.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you," Izuku said.

"And you're here to train your Quirk, right?" the receptionist asked as she looked over her computer. "You've come in at just the right time; there's a patient in the Urgent Care who just came in with a broken hand. Will that do?"

"That's perfect," Izuku exclaimed. "Thank you so much."

She giggled. "You're welcome. Wait right here, and I'll have someone take you straight to her."

A few minutes later a nurse came to the desk and led them to the Urgent Care. "Here we are, Exam Room UR-27," the nurse said. "Your patient is right in there. Do you need anything else?"

"Thank you, but we can take it from here," Recovery Girl said. "I know my way around a hospital quite well."

"Okay, I'll leave you to it," the nurse said with a wave goodbye.

"What a nice young…person," Recovery Girl said before turning to Izuku. "Was that nurse a man or a woman? I couldn't tell."

"No idea," Izuku replied, scratching the back of his head. "But they're very nice."

"Indeed. Now let's head inside, can't keep your patient waiting," Recovery Girl said with a smile.

Recovery Girl knocked on the door, and they entered the room. Immediately, they saw a girl about Izuku's age sitting on the exam table while a man and woman stood off to the side.

She was a petite, fair-skinned girl with shoulder-length chestnut hair, and large, round hazel eyes. Her outfit consisted of a pink t-shirt, black shorts, and brown shoes. Her right arm was in a sling.

The woman had russet-brown hair in a similar style to the girl's, but longer, and powder blue eyes. She wore a white blouse and a tan skirt.

The man had short dark-blond hair and hazel eyes, the same as the girl's. He wore a salmon-pink button-up shirt and jeans.

"Oh, hello," the girl said. "Are you the doctor?"

"Sort of," Recovery Girl replied. "My name is Chiyo Shuzenji, and I'll be overseeing your treatment today."

"I'm Ochako Uraraka," the girl said with a smile. "It's nice to meet you."

"Hey there," the man exclaimed, drawing Recovery Girl's attention. "I'm her papa, Osamu Uraraka, and this her mama, Etsuko."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Etsuko said with a slight bow.

"It's very nice to meet you all," Recovery Girl said. "And this is my grandnephew…" She trailed off when she noticed their wide eyes stares. "What are you staring at?"

"Uhm, is he okay?" Ochako almost whispered, pointing a finger behind Recovery Girl.

Taken aback by her question, Recovery Girl blinked in surprise. "Is he what?" she asked as she took in the shocked looks on all their faces as they stared directly behind her. "What are you talking abou-GOOD GOD, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?" she screamed as she turned around to see what had them all in a tizzy.

Izuku, for lack of a better term, was freaking out. His eyes were wide, his body was trembling, tiny droplets of sweat covered his face, and while his mouth was open, no words came out, only a high pitched wheezing sound.

'A-a-a-a girl!' Izuku thought, knees trembling and mouth dry as a desert. 'Holy crap my patient's a girl, and she's cute.' His cheeks lit up at that last thought. 'Okay calm down, calm down, calm down, I've talked to girls before…okay, I've talked to my mom and Recovery Girl, and I'm pretty sure they don't technically count.' It was then he finally noticed everyone's shocked stares. 'Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap! They're staring. Of course they're staring; I'm standing here like a mental patient. GODDAMNIT IZUKU, GET YOURSELF TOGETHER!'

At that moment, Izuku did the only thing he could think of-

 _*SLAP!*_

-he slapped himself in the face with both hands. The stinging pain snapped him out of his internal ramblings and gave him back control of his body.

"H-h-hi there," Izuku stammered out while everyone's gazes intensified. "My name is Izuku Midoriya." Lifting his legs as if they'd suddenly turned into lead, he somehow managed to make his way over to the examination table. "It's n-nice to meet you, I'm going to be healing you today." Izuku gave a nervous smile and extended his hand.

Ochako stared at him for a moment, still trying to process what she'd just seen. "It's nice to meet you too." She looked down at Izuku's hand, then back at her own in its sling.

"Oh crap!" Izuku exclaimed as he pulled back his hand. "Sorry about that, I-uhm-well…" He let out a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Excuse me," Recovery Girl said, grabbing everyone's attention. "But now that we have introductions out of the way we should get things moving."

'Oh thank goodness,' Izuku thought with a sigh of relief.

Recovery Girl made her way the exam room's computer and logged in. "Now then, Ochako was it? Can you please tell me how you broke your hand?"

Ochako went bug-eyed at the question. "Why?" Her voice was breathless as she spoke.

Recovery Girl raised an eyebrow. "Establishing the cause of injury is standard procedure."

"Well, the thing is," Ochako said, turning her eyes away from Recovery Girl. "How I broke it is…kind of embarrassing. Can we please skip this part?"

"Young lady, I can assure you that whatever happened, I've heard worse," Recovery Girl said. "I've seen some pretty strange injuries in my time. Besides, it's not like I'll tell anyone; doctor-patient confidentiality and all that."

"Uh, the thing is," Ochako muttered. "I kind of, sort of-"

"It was my fault!" Osamu exclaimed, nervous sweat covering his brow. "I accidentally slammed the door on her hand."

Recovery Girl said nothing for a few seconds but then smiled. "Well I suppose that is embarrassing, but it's far from the worst I've heard."

'Thank goodness she believed that,' Ochako thought as she let her shoulders drop.

'I don't believe them for a second,' Recover Girl thought. 'They're clearly lying, but I won't press them about it. For now.'

"Are you going to put my hand in a cast now?" Ochako asked.

"No, actually," Recovery Girl replied. "Izuku will be using his Quirk to heal your injury."

"That's me," Izuku said with a nervous chuckle.

"Hold on," Etsuko said, eyeing Recovery Girl suspiciously. "Don't you need a special license to use your Quirk in public?"

"Yes, and I have one. I've also secured special permission for him to use his Quirk under my supervision," Recovery Girl explained. "Izuku, if you could please get started."

"R-right," Izuku blurted out. He turned back to face Ochako and extended his hand once again. "I, uhm, need to hold your hand so I can fix it." His face turned cherry red at that statement.

"Okay," Ochako said. She slipped her hand out of her sling, wincing as she did so, and gently placed it in Izuku's.

'Wow, she has really nice skin,' he thought, his blush growing even redder. He shook his head, banishing the thoughts from his mind. 'Just focus on healing her.' He placed his other hand on top of hers, sandwiching it between his.

"Is this alright?" he asked.

Ochako nodded, a pained grimace on her face. "It hurts, but I'm fine. Just do what you've gotta do."

"Right," he affirmed with a smile.

Izuku closed his eyes and concentrated, taking slow deep breaths. He found the well of energy inside himself and readied himself to open the floodgates.

Ochako watched him with rapt attention, wondering what exactly he was doing. 'He's concentrating hard like he's meditating. Although, it looks like he' trying to take a poop with that face he's making.' She stifled a giggle. 'I wonder how his Quirk works.' She gasped as she got her answer.

The boy in front of her was enveloped in soft, green aura. Ochako's eyes widened as she stared, captivated by how the light emanating from Izuku's body shifted and moved. Seeing Izuku's Quirk in action was mesmerizing, and as the energy danced across his body, Ochako couldn't help but feel safe. It felt as though she was being enveloped in a warm hug or a soft blanket, she felt protected and at peace. Before she even realized, the aura around surrounding Izuku's hands grew brighter and more vibrant, and the pain in her hand had vanished.

As quickly as it came, the aura vanished. Izuku opened his and gave a tired smile. "There, that should do it." He glanced down and realized he was still holding Ochako's hand. Turning bright red, he tore his hands from Ochako's and muttered and apology.

"So, uhm, h-h-how's your hand?" Izuku asked nervously.

Giving her fingers an experimental wiggle, Ochako gave a bright smile. "It's all better, no pain at all. Your Quirk is awesome; it's like I never broke it."

Izuku smiled back. "Well that's good; for a second there I was afraid it wouldn't work."

Surprised at his statement, Ochako was about to ask him what he meant, but Recovery Girl unintentionally cut her off.

"Excellent work, Midoriya. Now, you go find a place to rest while I take her to get an X-Ray, just to double check that everything healed properly and so they can get out of here."

"Okay," he said before letting out a yawn before leaving the room.

* * *

An hour later, Ochako found herself wandering the halls of the hospital while her parents were busy filling out paperwork. The new X-Rays had come back clean and showed her hand to be in perfect condition. Because her parents still had to sign some documents due to the unique nature of her treatment, Osamu had given Ochako some pocket money to grab herself a snack at the hospital's café.

'Where the heck is it? I feel like I'm going in circles,' Ochako thought with a pout as she wandered the halls. Looking around, she grew more and more frustrated at her fruitless search for a sign or a map. Turning another corner, she found herself in the hospital's pharmacy and sighed in frustration.

Suddenly, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye; a familiar mop of curly green hair and the boy it was attached too. He was sleeping in a chair with his head lolled forward, chest slowly rising and falling with every breath.

'That's a weird place to take a nap,' Ochako thought. 'But his neck's going to be killing him if he sleeps like that. Better go wake him up.' She walked over to him and nudged his shoulder.

"GWAAH! Who's there?!" Izuku yelled, springing awake.

"Ah!" Ochako yelped, grabbing the boy's attention. Their eyes met, and an awkward silence filled the air. "Uh, hi. Sorry for waking you up, but I didn't want you to get a stiff neck."

"Oh, uhm, thank you," he said sheepishly. "Uraraka, wasn't it?"

She nodded. "You're name's Midoriya." She sat down next to him. "I hope you don't mind, but why were you sleeping here?"

A blush spread across his face as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you see, it was kind of an accident. I was looking for the café and got lost, I sat down to rest my feet and fell asleep without noticing."

Ochako burst out into a fit of giggles. "Sorry, but I'm not laughing at you," she said as she calmed herself down. "That's actually how I ended up here too."

Izuku let out a sigh of relief. "Well, that's a relief. For a second I thought-"

 _*GGGGRRRRRRRR *_

He went dead silent at the sound of his rumbling stomach, an absolutely mortified expression on his face. "Sorry, I'm just…really hungry."

"Oh, I get it," Ochako exclaimed, drawing Izuku's attention. "It's because of your Quirk, right?"

"Y-yeah," Izuku said, a bright look in his eyes. "My Quirk allows me to use my body's energy reserves to heal my own and other peoples' injuries, like your broken hand. I don't know the exact extent of it, like if I can buffer a body's immune system and increase White Blood cell production, but it doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility. I've still got a long way to go, but learning about my Quirk has been really exciting." By the end of his explanation, Izuku's eyes were practically sparkling.

"Wow, that's really cool," Ochako said excitedly, invigorated by Izuku's enthusiasm. "Just listening to you talk gets me pumped up. But that drawback must suck; I'd hate it if I got tired and hungry every time I used my Quirk."

"Actually," Izuku said as he reached into his hip-bag. "That's why my great-aunt gave me these." In his hands were a couple of mud-colored, ball-shaped gummy candies, each about the size of a small chicken egg. "They're special gummy candies packed to the brim calories, fats, and vitamins to help me recharge after using my Quirk."

Izuku's expression twisted into one of disgust and horror. "The only problem is they taste awful." His turned a sickly shade of green as recalled trying to eat one after healing Ochako and promptly spitting it out. "I appreciate her making them for me, but I just can't swallow them."

Ochako gave him a sympathetic look, unsure of what to do. Then she looked behind him and saw a pair of vending machines, and a light bulb went off.

"Wait right here," she said as she stood up. Grabbing the money her father had given her, Ochako walked to the drink vending machine. Looking at the options available, her eyes landed on some relatively cheap canned green tea. She bought three cans from the machine and walked back to Izuku.

"Here you go," she said, handing two cans to Izuku. "Try washing them down with this."

Warily eyeing the two gummies in his hand, he took a deep breath and opened the first can. "Here goes nothing." He popped one gummy in mouth whole and chewed like there was no tomorrow. Just when he was about to spit it out, he shotgunned the first green tea and washed it down his throat. Without missing a beat, he repeated the process with the other gummy and can.

"Thank you, Uraraka," Izuku breathed with a smile. "I don't think I could have swallowed them without the tea."

"No problem," Ochako chirped. "It's the least I could do after you-"

*ggrrrr*

She was cut off by the sound of her growling stomach. Although nowhere near as loud as Izuku's, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

"I didn't have a chance to eat breakfast this morning," Ochako explained as stared down at her feet.

Izuku stared at her for a minute before softly chuckling. "Why don't we go find the café, and I'll buy you something to eat?"

After asking one of the pharmacy employees where it was and finding out the café was on the opposite end of the hospital, the two teens made their way there. The café itself, simply called Musutafu General Café, was a relatively nice establishment that provided a surprisingly wide variety of food and drinks considering it was inside a hospital.

Ochako ended up getting (well, Izuku had bought her) a bento with broiled salmon over white rice with a side salad, along with some red bean mochi for dessert and her can of green tea from the pharmacy.

Izuku had gotten himself a chicken bento, a steak bento, a pork bento, and a yellow tail bento. When he was done with these, he'd head back to grab some desserts.

"Wow, you're really packing it away," Ochako exclaimed as Izuku finished off his first bento when she'd only eaten half of hers. "Did the gummies not work?"

"No, they did," Izuku answered. "But I overdid when I fixed your hand, so I'm still starving."

At the mention him healing her hand, Ochako looked down at her lunch with a downcast expression. "You know, I never actually thanked you for that. I tried to say it back at the pharmacy after I gave you the green tea, but then my stupid stomach got in the way." She sighed and turned her eyes back to Izuku. "Now here you are, buying me lunch. I feel like I'm taking advantage of you."

"No, no, no, you're not," Izuku blurted out in a panic, snapping Ochako out her funk. "I'm the one who offered, so there's nothing for you to feel bad about."

A small frown crept onto her face. "I know, but still…"

Unsure of what to say to say to her, Izuku clamped up. He thought about what his mother or Toshinori and tried to imagine what they might do in this situation. Then it struck him as he recalled the money his mentor would give him.

"W-well, if you're trying to thank me for buying you lunch, you're doing a lousy job of it," Izuku said. "When someone gives you a gift, the best thing you can do is take it and appreciate it. If you don't then it's like your saying that it's not good enough or that you're taking the person for granted." He looked at her straight on, a strange sort of determination in his eyes. "So, if you want to thank me for buying you lunch, the best thing you can do is enjoy with a smile on your face."

Ochako gaped at him in shock.

Finally realizing what he'd said, Izuku turned bone white. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that what I meant was-" He was cut off by the sound of laughter.

He looked and saw Ochako laughing with a smile on her face, all traces of guilt and apprehension gone.

"You know what, you're right," she said with bright and cheery eyes. "I'm going to enjoy this awesome food my awesome new friend bought me." Ochako gave Izuku a soft, warm smile. "Thank you so much, Midoriya, for the food and the fixing my hand. You're a wonderful person."

Izuku's face turned pink as her words filled him with pure joy. "Y-y-you're welcome, Uraraka." He rubbed the back of his neck, his body humming with giddy nerves.

She dug into her food with renewed happiness. The talked as they ate, discussing everything from school work and the weather to their favorite Pro Heroes and TV shows. It was awkward at first, Izuku had never really had a civil and casual conversation with someone his own age since he was about 4 or 5, but he felt like he was getting the hang of it.

Ochako finished off the last of her mochi and let out a content sigh. "That was good," she exclaimed as she sank into her chair.

"Yeah, I'm surprised by the quality," Izuku said as he finished off his third bento. He glanced back at Ochako and bit his lip. "Hey, uhm, can I ask you something?"

Ochako perked up at his question and sat upright. "Sure."

"The thing is," he began as he started twiddling his thumbs. "How do I put this; did you sort of, maybe, possibly lie to my great-aunt about how you broke your hand?"

She went dead quiet at his question, eyes wide with shock.

"I-I-I'm not saying you did!" Izuku said abruptly. "It's just that, whenever she thinks someone is lying to her, she scrunches her nose. And she did that back there like she could…" Izuku's mind went blank as tried to think of what to say next.

"Like she could smell our bullshit." Izuku was flung back to reality at the sound of Ochako's voice. "Guess she saw right through my dad and me." She gave a nervous laugh. "Do you want to know how I actually broke my hand?"

Izuku nodded.

"Promise not to tell anyone else?"

He nodded again.

"Okay," she breathed. "I broke my hand when I was practicing using my Quirk." Izuku instantly perked up at the word 'Quirk.' "My mom and dad run a construction company, and for the past few weeks, my dad and I have been getting early to go to the site so I can practice. But this morning I lost control, and my handed ended up getting crushed under a metal crate. We didn't want to get in trouble, so my dad came up with that door story on the fly."

"Does your Quirk have something to with the pads on your on your fingertips?" Izuku asked. "I felt them when I was healing your hand."

Ochako nodded and showed him the palms of her hands and the little pinks pads at ends of her fingers and thumbs (Izuku thought they looked like a cat's paw pads.) "Do want to see it in action?"

"Yes please!" Izuku beamed, his eye practically sparkling.

She glanced around to make sure no one was watching and grabbed her empty green tea can. A soft pink light emanated the pads for a split second, and when she let go of the can started to float.

Izuku was mesmerized as the can rose above their heads, mentally kicking himself for not bringing his notebook with him.

Ochako pressed the tips of her fingers together and said: "Release." The can fell, and Ochako barely caught it before it hit the table. "Tada. That's my Quirk, Zero Gravity; I can cancel out the effect of gravity on anything I touch and press my pads together to stop it. Although, I've got a weight limit and if I go past it I'll throw up."

"Oh wow, your Quirk is incredible," Izuku exclaimed.

"You think so?" Ochako asked hesitantly. "I mean I've never thought of it as anything special. There are so many other Quirks that way cooler and stronger than mine, like yours."

"No way, your Quirk's awesome," Izuku declared. "I think mine's amazing, but they're too different to compare. You could send someone into space with a tap, or stop a building from collapsing." He gave Ochako the biggest and brightest smile she could muster. "I'd love it if I had your Quirk."

To say Ochako was overwhelmed would be an understatement. She'd never heard anyone talk so passionately her Quirk before and was practically over the moon. "Thank you so much, Midoriya," she beamed. "So, what do you call your Quirk?"

"Oh," Izuku said, his voice suddenly very small. "The name of my Quirk, my Quirk's name…huh."

Ochako watched in confusion as Izuku squirmed in his seat as if someone had just dumped itching powder down his pants. "Are you okay? You don't look so good."

"No, no. I'm fine," Izuku said cautiously. "It's just…the thing…uhm." He forced a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I haven't named it yet."

"Wait, really. Why not?" she asked in shock. She remembered having trouble naming her's when she'd first gotten it, but to think someone her age still hadn't named their Quirk was beyond her.

"The thing is, I only found out I have a Quirk about four months ago," Izuku began. "You see, I have two joints in my pinky toes instead of one, and it's nothing like my parents', so my Quirkologist assumed I was Quirkless and didn't do any genetic tests to check."

"So you never used your Quirk before a few months ago?"

"Technically, my Quirk is always on," Izuku said. "You see, my body is actually constantly emitting low-level healing radiation, but it's not strong enough to cause the 'glow' like when I healed you. It's kind of like when you've got a TV plugged in, there's always an electrical current running through it even when it's not in use, but you wouldn't know unless you turned it. I only found out because I got a job about five months ago and when I started my boss was sick, then he started getting better really fast, so my great-aunt decided to investigate."

Ochako didn't know what saw in response to his story. It was an incredible story, and she was happy for Izuku, but she'd never been in a situation like this before and probably never would be again. So she just said the first thing that came to mind. "You know, your Quirk reminds me of the sun," Ochako said absentmindedly.

Izuku thought as he stared at her, unsure of what he was supposed to say in response. "I'm…the sun?"

"That came out weird. Sorry," she said as mentally kicking herself. "What I mean is that even when you're not bright and shiny, your Quirk's still there. Kind of like how on a rainy day I know the sun's just behind the clouds, or when it sets I know it'll rise again in the morning. And, this is embarrassing, but when you used your Quirk on me, I felt warm and safe and full of life; it was like standing in a ray of sunshine after spending all your time indoors."

Her words brought a blush to Izuku's face. "Wow, that's really sweet of you to say. Thank you, Uraraka."

"Hey, Ochako," a voice called out.

They turned to see Ochako's parents and Recovery Girl walking towards them.

"Sorry we took so long, baby girl," Osamu said.

Confused by her father's statement, Ochako looked at her phone and checked the time. "Holy crap! How the heck does paperwork take that long?" She'd been having such a pleasant time with Izuku the time had completely passed her by.

Osamu gave a nervous laugh as small beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

"Uhm, well, the thing is," Etsuko said with a wavering voice. "The reason we took so long was that…" She trailed off, her nerves overtaking her ability to speak.

"Why don't I explain," Recovery Girl said with a smile. Osamu and Etsuko opened their mouths, but no sound came out as Recovery Girl walked up to Ochako. "You see, I was just giving your parents a little lecture on why they should _never_ lie to medical professionals." Her voice took on a sharp and dangerous edge at the word 'never.'

Ochako felt a chill go down her spine as Recovery Girl gave her a dark look.

"I don't feel giving that lecture again, but I'm sure you can understand why lying to your doctor is a terrible thing to do?" Recovery Girl asked with a menacing calm.

"Of course," Ochako blurted, practically shaking in her seat. "Lying to your doctor is wrong, and I'll never do it again!"

"Promise?"

"Yes! I promise to never, ever lie to a doctor ever again!" At this Ochako had _literally_ started shaking.

Recovery Girl stared at her for a moment, the tension so thick you'd need a chainsaw to cut through it. Suddenly, Recovery Girl let out a breath, and her shoulders slumped, the tension disappeared so fast it was almost unnatural. "That's wonderful, dearie." Her dark expression was gone and replaced by a warm smile. "I'm so glad you said that. I really didn't feel like whacking you over the head with my cane."

Osamu and Etsuko flinched at the mention of her cane.

Ochako tried to laugh it off, but only a strangled wheezing noise came out. 'How can a little old lady doctor be so freaking scary.'

Recovery Girl turned back to Osamu and Etsuko who both looked at her like she was some sort of venomous animal. "I hope you all have a wonderful day." She extended her hand, and they eyed it wearily.

When they realized she wasn't going to strike them, Osamu and Etsuko both gingerly shook Recovery Girl's hand.

"Hey, kid," Osamu said as he turned to Izuku and extended his hand. "Thanks for fixing my baby girl's hand."

"It was no trouble, Mr. Uraraka," Izuku said as he gave him a firm shake. "I'm happy to help."

"Oh, you're such a sweet young man," Etsuko said, taking Izuku's hand as soon as he'd let go of Osamu's. "Your parents must be so proud of you."

"Yeah, they sure are," Izuku said vaguely, wondering in the back of his mind just how mad his mom and dad would be if they found out he was going being their backs to train with All Might and Recovery Girl.

The Urarakas said their goodbyes and headed towards the door. Just before they vanished out of sight, Ochako turned back and waved to Izuku.

He gave a small, cheery smile as he waved back and she disappeared out of sight. Izuku felt somebody staring at him and looked down to see Recovery Girl smiling at him.

"I see you made a new friend," she remarked.

Izuku opened his mouth to protest her claim, but then stopped himself and smiled back. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"Now, finish your food because I know you overdid it when you healed her," she said. "We'll see one or two more patients, and we'll be on our way."

"Okay," Izuku said as got started on last bento. "By the way, can we do something about the gummies?"

Recovery Girl raised an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong them?"

What followed was probably one of the biggest regrets of Recovery Girl's long and storied life as she proceeded to dispose of her stomach contents into the nearest trash can after taking a bite of one of those mud-colored abominations.

* * *

You'd think that as Japan's No. 1 Hero, All Might, Toshinori Yagi would live in a mansion. While he certainly had more than enough money to buy at least a hundred mansions, it had never been his style.

He did have a few dozen small, inconspicuous pieces of property all around the country, condos and small one-story houses. His work often took him all across Japan, and he always preferred the privacy and stability of having his own place to rest his head over hotel and inns.

His house in Musutafu was his largest piece of property; a modestly sized two-story building in a sleepy little suburb. This was where he found himself, lying awake in bed unable to fall back asleep.

Toshinori sighed and grabbed his phone from the nightstand and saw it read September 16th, 4:09 AM. 'Might as well get up.' Reluctantly, he got out of bed and showered; the sun still hadn't risen by the time he was done. Deciding it was too early for breakfast, Toshinori put on a canary yellow tracksuit, stuffed a few energy bars in his pockets, and drove down to Dagobah Beach.

He hadn't expected anyone to be down here this ungodly hour, especially since no one usually came down here at all. So Toshinori was more than a little surprised to see a familiar green haired boy in a green tracksuit and red shoes doing stretches in the sand.

"Young Midoriya," the blond man called out.

"Yagi?" Izuku said in surprise. He stood up to see his guess was correct. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Toshinori said in a somewhat accusatory tone. "We agreed Sundays were your day off." He furrowed his brow and pursed his lips. "You haven't been training behind my back? Because that'll have the opposite effect we want!"

"NO! Of course not," Izuku pleaded. "Our next door neighbors just had another baby, and she's been crying nonstop. My mom couldn't sleep either, so we decided to get out of the house." He yawned, tears pricked the corners of his eyes. "I went for a jog, and my feet took me here."

"That's a relief; it's too early to act like a teacher and punish you," Toshinori teased, and he and Izuku shared a laugh.

"So what are you doing here?" Izuku asked.

Toshinori froze up, the nightmare that kept him awake flooding back into his mind. In actuality, it wasn't a nightmare, but a memory. A terrible, terrible memory had haunted him for decades that he could still recall it in horrific, vivid detail.

" _All Might, I leave the rest to you,"_ her voice rang through Toshinori's head loud and clear.

"Neighbor's dogs," he blurted out. "My next door neighbors own a bunch of those tiny, yappy dogs; one of them must have seen a squirrel or something and started barking then set the rest off." It wasn't a total lie, the old couple next door owned quite a few tiny but very loud dogs and they'd woken him up on more than one occasion.

They decided to do a few laps around the park together (Izuku slowed down to make sure Toshinori kept pace in his true form.) After about an hour of jogging, mentor and protégé sat down on the sand together facing the sea. Both were munching on some of the energy bars Toshinori had brought along with him.

The blond man checked his phone saw the time was 5:19 AM. "I think Ginko's opens at 6:00. Why don't we do a couple more laps and I'll take you there for breakfast?"

Izuku nodded vigorously. "Hounbs gweah."

"Swallow before you talk, Young Midoriya."

"Howwy," Izuku said through a mouth full of energy before swallowing. "I said that it sounds great." He stood up and started stretching.

"Hold up, kid," Toshinori said as he was looking at his phone. "The sun's gonna rise in a few minutes. Sit back down and watch."

"Okay," Izuku said, staring at his mentor as he sat back down.

Toshinori took a deep breath and let his body relax, a content smile on his face. "You know, the life of a Pro Hero isn't easy, especially for the higher ranks. It's not every day we get to enjoy the simple things in life like watching a sunrise. You've got to make these moments count and cherish them for as long as you live."

"Actually, you just reminded me of something," Izuku said, drawing his mentor's attention. "It's silly, but yesterday at the hospital, there was this girl whose hand I fixed with my Quirk. We ended up having lunch together, and she said my Quirk was like the sun."

"I don't think it's silly at all."

Izuku looked up at his mentor in surprise.

"The sun has always been a symbol of life and hope, and with your Quirk, you can save people from the brink of death and give them hope." Toshinori smiled at Izuku. "I think she was right on the money."

Izuku was about to respond, but then it happened.

Slowly but surely, the sun came into view, painting the dark with brilliant pinks, purples, and reds. The ocean's surface exploded into a stunning, shimmering display of dancing lights, like trillions of shining diamonds. Izuku's jaw dropped as the sunlight kissed his face, warming his skin and reinvigorating him as energy he didn't know he had sparked to life.

He watched as the sun rose higher into the sky, piercing the veil of night and bringing forth a new day.

It was one of the most beautiful sights the boy had ever seen.

"Wow," Izuku spoke in a whisper, afraid to disturb the tranquil sight before him. He turned to Toshinori and thought about his words and what Ochako had told him the day before, in an instant he knew what he had to do.

"Hey, Yagi," Izuku said, drawing Toshinori out of his musings. "I think I know what I want to call my Quirk."

'Odd timing, but okay,' the blond man thought as watched his protégé stand up.

"Do you know what a corona is?"

Toshinori thought for a moment but said no.

"The corona is the aura of plasma that surrounds the Sun and other stars," Izuku explained as his voice slowly filled with passion and vigor. "If my Quirk is like the Sun, then my aura is like its corona."

Izuku turned around, and Toshinori was awestruck by the fire in the boy's eyes.

"Mending Corona," Izuku called out, his voice shaking Toshinori to the very core. "That's what I'll call it; a Quirk to give people hope and save lives."

Almost on instinct, Toshinori stood up and placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "My boy, I think it's a wonderful name," he said with the fullest, proudest smile he could muster.

* * *

 **HOLY CRAP! This chapter is almost 10,000 words not including Author's Notes! My longest chapter so far.**

 **This took a while but was worth it.**

 **Also, I've figured out the timeline for this story! The scene at the end of the chapter takes places on Sunday, September 16th, 2130. The reason for this because I knew UA's entrance exam had to take place on either a Saturday or a Sunday due to it being an all-day event, and Japanese high school entrance exams usually take place between the 10th and 24th of February, so I needed to pick a year where those days landed on a weekend. Izuku now has five months and one week until the entrance exam, which will take place on Saturday, February 24th, 2131.**

 **If you go and check you'll find that dates are accurate, I used to make sure I was using real dates.**

 **Anyways, please leave comment/review and tell what you liked, disliked, and found interesting about this chapter. Constructive criticism is always welcome.**

 **I'd love it if you'd come and scream at me on Tumblr xpegasusuniverse and on Twitter JackJVilardi.**

 **A big shout out to my best buddy Navek for beta reading and editing this story, and if you like Fairy Tail, Gundam, or Marvel, please do check out his profile to find his fanfics Fairy Tail: A New Day and its sequel Fairy Tail: Homecoming, Gundam SEED: A Soldier's Will, and The Mighty Avengers.**

 **Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you all have a wonderful day.**


	7. Things Don't Stay Secret Forever

The Healing Touch Chapter 7: Things Don't Stay Secret Forever

By

Xpegasus

 **AN:**

 **Wow, I am floored by the response to the last chapter. It's…overwhelming.**

 **I know that saying this over and over again might make it lose meaning to some people, but I genuinely mean it when I say thank you, thank you to each and every person who leaves a comment/review on this fic. Your kind words and constructive criticism drive me to keep writing and always bring me so much joy.**

 **Also, quite a few of you mentioned your hatred of Mr. Kita in the comments of the last chapter, and I may have let it slip that worst of him has yet to come. It won't be this chapter, but you'll know it when you see it.**

 **Once again, I promise to respond to every person who leaves a comment/review on this chapter, although with how many people have been leaving them that's been getting rather time consuming…but in a good way because I love responding to comments.**

 **And please, I'd love it if you'd come and scream at me on Tumblr xpegasusuniverse, or on Twitter JackJVilardi, interacting with you guys is awesome!**

 **Now, let's get on with the show!**

* * *

Community service is seen in one of two way; as a kind gesture done by good-hearted people, or as a punishment for people who have done something wrong. Somehow, Izuku Midoriya felt like cleaning up Dagobah Beach was somehow a punishment for being a good person.

Sweat dripped off his body despite the chill of early October evening as Izuku ran up the stone steps and dropped two tires into the back of Toshinori's truck. 'Okay, what's next?' Izuku scanned the beach and spotted a kitchen sink. Popping an energy bar in his mouth, he sprinted towards it.

Toshinori looked on at his protégé with pride, marveling at how far he'd come in the time they'd known each other. In just over five months, now approaching six, Izuku had gone from having barely any muscle to speak of, to being toned and lean. Granted, his protégé still had a long way to go before his body could take in One for All without blowing up. But Toshinori couldn't help but smile at his dedication.

He looked on as the shadows of the trash heaps began to stretch towards the water as the sun sank below the park's trees. "Well, there go the long days of summer."

"Hey, Yagi."

Toshinori turned back to Izuku at the sound of his student calling his name. The green haired boy had just put a filing cabinet in the back of his mentor's truck.

"Would you like to come to dinner to tonight?" Izuku asked as he wiped some sweat off his brow. "My mom's trying some new recipes tonight, and she wanted me to ask you over."

"Really, what's she making?" Toshinori asked.

"Italian food. She bought an Italian cookbook last week, and she loves it," Izuku recounted as he practically started drooling. "Last night she a made lasagna, and it tasted like heaven."

"That sounds wonderful, Young Midoriya. I'd love to come over." Toshinori grinned at the thought of Inko's cooking. One unexpected benefit of being Izuku's mentor was the frequent invitations to dinner at the Midoriya family's apartment. It wasn't that he didn't have any cooking ability, but every he could cook was very basic; rice, grilled meat, miso soup, and boiled vegetables. Whenever he wanted something else, Toshinori had to grab a frozen dinner from the supermarket or go out. Getting to eat a nice home cooked meal was a more than welcome change of pace for the Pro Hero.

"Awesome! I'll text my mom and tell her," Izuku said as he pulled out his phone.

As Izuku texted his mother, Toshinori turned towards the beach. When he'd first brought Izuku here in April, every inch of Dagobah Beach had been covered in trash, a veritable wasteland of garbage. But in the time Izuku had been training here he'd managed to clear out over two-thirds of the trash by himself. It was an incredible sight to behold, and Toshinori couldn't help but feel his heart swell with pride.

"Done," Izuku with a smile.

"Alright, no time to waste," Toshinori exclaimed. "You've done a lot today, but we've still got a couple of hours until we're done. So let's get back to training."

Izuku stared at his mentor and blinked in surprise before he let out a sigh. "Well, no rest for the wicked, no rest for the righteous." With eyes brimming with determination, Izuku popped another energy bar in his mouth and sprinted back towards the beach.

Seeing the green haired boy work so fiercely and with such dedication brought a smile to Toshinori's face. 'You're really something, Midoriya.'

* * *

"Ta-da," Inko exclaimed with a smile as she approached the table with a massive steaming dish. "Chicken and pumpkin fettuccine alfredo with chestnuts."

Izuku and Toshinori looked on at the dish in awe with gaping mouths. The enticing aroma wafted through the air making their mouths water in anticipation.

"Oh man, it looks so good, mom," Izuku as he reached out to grab the serving spoon. A hair's breadth from the spoon, he stopped and looked up to see his mother giving him a pointed look. He gave a nervous laugh. "Sorry."

"It's alright," Inko said with a smile that proclaimed this had happened many, many times before. "I'm excited to try it too."

All three clapped their hands together and exclaimed: "Thank you for the food."

Inko served Toshinori first, then gave Izuku a much larger portion, and finally herself.

"It's delicious, Mrs. Midoriya," Toshinori said after his first bite. "The chicken is moist and tender, and the sauce is creamy without being heavy." He twirled his fork in the pasta and brought another bite to his mouth. He swallowed and let out a content sigh. "The noodles are cooked to perfection. You're an incredible chef."

"Oh, stop it," Inko said with a blush. "Honestly it's nothing when you cook as much as I do it's bound to happen."

"You shouldn't sell yourself short; you have incredible skill." Toshinori speared a piece of chicken and chestnut and brought it to his mouth. "You know, I've never heard of pasta with chestnuts. What an odd cookbook you have."

"That was my idea," Inko explained as she idly twirled her pasta. "The grocery store was having a sale chestnuts and pumpkins so I bought a few and then I figured 'what the heck.' I pureed the pumpkins for the sauce and sliced up the chestnuts."

Izuku was about to speak, but his mother gave him a pointed look. With a guilty look on his face, Izuku swallowed his mouthful of food. "She loves to put spins on the recipes she gets; last night she put seaweed in the lasagna."

"Seaweed?" Toshinori asked in surprise. "Huh, that's kind of weird."

"You think so?" Inko said. "Well, I suppose it is an odd thing to do."

"No!" Toshinori exclaimed with a spurt of blood. "I didn't mean it like that! It's weird, but weird can be good; take your son for instance." Toshinori pointed to Izuku who had a length of fettuccine halfway inside his mouth.

Izuku slurped up the pasta and looked at Toshinori. "You think I'm weird?"

Toshinori went bug-eyed. "Yes-I mean no-I mean…" He gave on trying to explain himself and sighed. "That came out wrong; I'm very sorry."

"Don't worry, Mr. Yagi. It's fine," Inko said reassuringly. "I know I can make weird dishes when I cook; with how much Izuku eats I like to get creative." She giggled. "But nothing to crazy. There's this one lady downstairs who marinates her chicken in coffee."

Toshinori shuddered. "Coffee chicken? Okay, there's being and creative like you, and then there's disturbing."

"And you weren't exactly wrong about me," Izuku said. "I can't think any other kids who spend their time filling notebooks with information on Quirks."

All three shared a good-natured laugh.

"You know, now that I think about it, you've been experimenting a lot more in the kitchen recently," Izuku said, looking at his mother. "Isn't this the fifth cookbook you've bought since school started?"

"Seventh, actually," Inko said. She pointed her fork at her son. "And that's because you've been eating more than ever, it's all I can do to keep myself from getting bored."

"It's only natural," Toshinori said. "Young Midoriya's gained quite a bit of muscle since he started working under me. He needs that extra fuel so he can build them up."

Suddenly, a light bulb went on in Inko's head. "Actually, Izuku started working out as soon as he started working for you, Mr. Yagi. Did you have anything to do with it?"

Toshinori froze up. 'Crap, what do I say? If I tell her the truth, she'll want to know why, but I don't have a good explanation. But I can't just lie to her, if she sees through then that will even worse.'

Sensing his mentor's panic, Izuku spoke up. "Yeah, it was Mr. Yagi's idea."

"Really?" Inko asked with a curious look.

Toshinori stared at Izuku with distressed eyes. 'Kid, what are you doing!?'

Ignoring his mentor, for the time being, Izuku looked his mother and nodded. "I end up doing a lot of physical stuff for Mr. Yagi; delivering packages, moving boxes, stuff like that. Remember when I came home from my first day as a Gofer?"

"How could I forget, you nearly gave me a heart attack," Inko exclaimed as she recalled the memory. "You were so tired you went to your room right after dinner and fell asleep in your day clothes, then you slept for eleven hours and still looked like the living dead when you went off to school."

"Exactly. I couldn't be passing out all the time, so Mr. Yagi suggested I start working out. It's made my job a lot easier."

As Izuku and his mother talked, Toshinori slumped in his chair. He stared up at the ceiling, his mind racing at what just happened. 'Holy crap, kid, warn a guy before you go all storyteller on him. You almost gave me a heart attack.' A look of relief came onto Toshinori's face, and he sighed. 'Still, that was a great cover-up, and not exactly untrue.'

"Mr. Yagi?"

"Huh," he said, coming back to reality, Toshinori noticed Inko looking at him and Izuku chewing on a great mouthful of pasta. "I'm sorry. I got lost in thought for a moment. Did you say something?"

"I was just about to tell you about all the things Izuku's bought with his salary," Inko said. "I'll tell you, it's been an absolute blessing for our budget, and he's been buying more Hero Merchandise than ever." She turned to Izuku as he swallowed a mouthful of pasta. "Didn't you buy a trading card last week, a shiny one." She gently pulled on her bottom lip. "I think you called it 'glittery' maybe?"

"It's not 'glittery,' mom," Izuku said with a pout. "It's a limited edition, holographic, All Might Pro Hero Trading Card with him in his first costume."

"Hold on, are you talking about the one they printed two years ago?" Toshinori asked.

Izuku froze up, nearly dropping his fork. Mechanically, he forced himself to turn and look at the blond man. "Uh…yeah," Izuku squeaked, an almost mortified look on his face. "Y-you see, I've been saving up part of my salary every week to buy stuff for myself. Copies of that specific card go for about 100,000 Yen online, but there's this hobby shop I pass by every day that was selling one for 60,000, so I ran home as fast as I could, grabbed my cash and…bought it." By the end of his story, Izuku's face was cherry red.

"Wow, I can't believe you found such a great deal!" Toshinori said.

"Really."

"Of course, and I'm glad you found it before someone else did." The blond man rubbed his chin. "Although, I'm surprised you were able to save up enough to afford it."

"Oh don't act so surprised," Inko said in a playful, false scolding tone. "You spoil Izuku with how much you pay him."

"I don't understand?" Toshinori asked in confusion. "I know I pay him above average, but it's not that much more."

"I think 4,000 Yen an hour is a bit more than just 'above average,' Mr. Yagi," Izuku said. "It's more than double than what I was making at the start which was already way above Musutafu minimum wage."

Inko nodded. "Izuku's salary covers our entire food budget and then some, and at the end of the month he puts whatever's leftover in a lockbox for a rainy day or when he needs more Hero merchandise."

Toshinori stared at them agape. 'Holy crap, I didn't realize I was giving the kid that much. I mean, it's still a drop in the bucket compared to what I make.'

Suddenly, Toshinori burst into a fit of laughter with a spray of blood to go along with it. "You say I spoil him, Mrs. Midoriya, but I can assure you that your son earns every Yen I give him."

Afterward, dinner continued as usual. Izuku told Toshinori all about the various pieces of Pro Hero merchandise he'd bought with his salary after getting over his initial nerves. Inko couldn't help but smile when Toshinori offered to ask All Might if he could sign the card Izuku had bought and her son's scream of pure joy.

'I don't know why I was suspicious,' Inko thought. 'Mr. Yagi really does care for my little boy, and of course, he'd bulk up doing physical labor like that.' While she'd been very happy for Izuku when he decided to start working out, Inko couldn't help but be suspicious at how it directly coincided with Mr. Yagi's decision to hire her son. Tonight she tried to pry the specifics from them subtly, and in the end, Izuku's explanation and the smile on his face more than satisfied her. 'Maybe I was worrying over nothing because of habit.'

Izuku let out a roaring belch that brought Inko out of her thoughts. "Sorry," he said with a blush.

Inko chuckled lightly. "Oh, it's fine, sweetheart. Just cover your mouth next time."

* * *

The next day, much to his displeasure, Izuku once again found himself as a guest in the Aldera Junior High teachers' room for lunch. As soon as they sat down, Mr. Kita has started talking Izuku's ear off.

The green haired boy could vaguely comprehend the subject his homeroom teacher was talking about, but the man was talking so fast Izuku could barely keep up. As he brought a piece of sweet chicken to his mouth, Izuku idly glanced at his book bag and was struck with an idea.

"Uhm, Mr. Kita," Izuku said.

Snapping out of his bubble, Mr. Kita's eyes landed squarely on Izuku. "What is it, my boy?" he asked with his signature unsettlingly too wide smile.

Izuku struggled not physically to shudder at Mr. Kita calling him 'my boy.' "You see, the thing is," he began as he struggled to maintain eye contact with his teacher, his stomach twisting itself in knots. "You I know, uh, love talking to you when we have lunch together, but I need to study. We've got a big test in Mr. Nakahara's History Class next week, so would it be alright if I just read through my textbook while we had lunch?"

"Oh course, Izuku," Mr. Kita said lightly. "You get cracking on those books; I'll just keep myself busy in the meantime." He pulled out a stack of papers from a drawer as Izuku pulled out his history textbook from his bag.

With his homeroom teacher quiet, Izuku could finally allow himself a chance to relax. 'I know it's not technically lying, but this still feels dishonest,' Izuku thought as he skimmed the pages. 'I've been managing my studying well enough outside of school that I don't _need_ to study during lunch… but it never hurts to get squeeze in a little extra when you get the chance.' For a split second, Izuku glanced back at Mr. Kita as wrote on the papers…with a rather ostentatious gold colored pen.

Mr. Kita noticed his student's gaze and smiled. "Like my pen. My wife, Honoka, got me it for my birthday on Sunday and I love it!" He had a dreamy look in his eyes as he spoke, his voice was airy and joyful. "Hono-chan is the best wife anyone could ask for; she's kind and beautiful and smart and-dddaaawwwwwww." Mr. Kita let a noise that Izuku could only describe as a love-struck sigh.

The green haired boy stared at his teacher in shock. 'This is…new…'

Mr. Kita chuckled. "Sorry about that, but whenever I think about Honoka I just get all giddy, and my heart starts to flutter." He let out another airy sigh. "We've been married ten years, but she still makes me feel like we're on our honeymoon. Anyway, you get back to studying."

Still taken aback by his teacher gushing over his wife, Izuku returned to skimming over his textbook. 'I guess Mr. Kita has good intentions at heart, but he's just a little awkward. Or a lot awkward.'

Unbeknownst to either of them, Mr. Honda and Ms. Sasaki were staring at them in annoyance as Mr. Honda reached into his desk and pulled out his flask. "Goddamnit; Kita's going to be one of his 'I love my wife more than life itself' kicks today," he said under his breath as he poured a generous helping of liquor into his coffee as he scowled.

"I don't know what's worse, him going on about his delusional fantasies or gushing about his wife," Ms. Sasaki said as took the flask from Mr. Honda.

* * *

It was Saturday once again, and like the last few Saturdays Izuku and Recovery Girl were busy healing the sick and injured with Izuku's Quirk, Mending Corona.

To help keep Izuku's training relatively secret, Recovery Girl had decided it would be best to go to a different hospital every week. Today the two were at Yoto Kurosawa Memorial Hospital in south Musutafu.

"Thank you so much for visiting us today," the receptionist said, a squat older man with fluffy salt and pepper hair, a matching mustache, and powder blue eyes behind large glasses. "It's been a pleasure to see you again Shuzenji, and your grandnephew is a wonderful young man."

Izuku blushed at the man's words.

"You're very welcome, Fukui," Recovery Girl said pleasantly. "It's been too long since we talked. Are those new glasses?"

"They are. I'm glad you noticed," Fukui said with a grin. "We should meet up for a game of cards; my neighbors and I hold a poker night every Sunday if you want to join."

"That sounds wonderful. I'll take you suckers for everything you've got," Recovery Girl said with a cheeky smile. "Take care, Fukui."

"You too, Sugar Lips," he said with a chuckle.

The pair turned around and started walking towards the door. As they walked towards the door, Izuku turned to Recovery Girl with a curious look on his face. "You know that guy?"

"Oh yes, we met each other decades ago," Recovery Girl explained. "I was still a Sidekick, and he was an EMT, we met on the job." She let out a soft laugh as she reminisced about their first meeting. "The first thing he did was ask me out on a date, so I smacked him upside the head and told him to save for later."

'That certainly sounds like her,' Izuku thought as he laughed alongside her.

The two of them were halfway to the door when they were stopped when a voice called out-

"Izuku, is that you?"

-and the boy stopped dead in his tracks.

'No way!' Izuku thought, panic rising and neck sweating. 'It can't be her; it just can't be.' Slowly and stiffly he turned around, praying to whatever deity was listening that he was wrong. It turns out, none were. 'MRS. BAKUGO!'

Standing in front of him was none other than Mitsuki Bakugo, mother of Izuku's childhood friend and current bully, Katsuki Bakugo. She was the spitting image of her son, or rather he was the spitting image of her. Spiky blonde hair, sharp features, red eyes, she was basically Katsuki as a woman in her late thirties who looked like she was in her early twenties.

"H-h-h-h-hi M-Mrs. Bakugo. How are you?" Izuku forced out, trying to keep his panic from rising any further.

"Why the hell are you being so formal? Just call me Mitsuki," she said as strode forward. "I've known since you were still wearing pull-ups, so we're on a first name basis." A fierce yet friendly grin spread across her face. "Anyway, I'm great. What about you?"

"I'm, uh, fine," Izuku said. "So, what brings you here?"

"Just finished up with my Gynecologist," Mitsuki said as if she were talking about the weather.

Izuku gaped at her, his face fire engine red.

"Oh come on, don't be such a baby," Mitsuki said as she reached over and ruffled Izuku's hair. "You know the differences between boys and girls; nothing to get all flustered over."

"R-right," Izuku said with a nervous smile.

"So what are you doing here?"

"Same," Izuku blurted out without thinking, only registering what he'd said after it came out of his mouth. He was mentally kicking himself, cursing his panic addled brain.

"You…came here to see a Gynecologist?" Mitsuki said, trying to process what she'd just heard.

"No-I mean yes-I mean my great aunt! My great aunt's here to see her Gynecologist," Izuku said as he gestured to Recovery Girl.

Slowly, Mitsuki's gaze shifted from the green haired boy to old woman net to him. "Holy crap, when did you get here?"

"I've been here this entire time," Recovery Girl said with a scowl.

"Sorry about that," Mitsuki said. "You're so tiny that I didn't see you."

Recovery Girl gave her a flat look. "Anyway, I'm not as spry as I used to be, so I asked Izuku to come with and take me home."

"Aww, aren't you just a sweetheart, Izuku," Mitsuki said with a smile. "Wish I could say the same for Katsuki. Getting that brat even to visit my mom and dad is like pulling teeth."

"Yeah, that sounds like Kacchan," Izuku said with a forced laugh.

"Hold on, how come I didn't see you guys at the OB/GYN?" Mitsuki asked.

"Oh, we finished up a while ago, but uh…" Izuku struggled to try and come up with an answer with Mitsuki's eyes locked on him. He tried to look anywhere but her when his eyes suddenly landed on Fukui. "We finished a while ago, but then auntie started flirting with the receptionist."

"No way," Mitsuki exclaimed as she looked at Recovery Girl. "You were hitting on glasses over there?"

"Well, uh, yes, I suppose I was," Recovery Girl said. "You're never too old for love."

Mitsuki flashed an excited smile. "How'd it go? Did you get his number?"

"Better than that, he invited me out tomorrow night."

"Sounds like granny's got a hot date." Mitsuki suddenly looked at her watch and frowned. "Shit, I'd love to stay and chat, but I've gotta go. Take care, and say hi to Inko for me." She bolted for the door like a bat out of hell, cursing how long her appointment took.

As soon as she was out of site, Izuku practically collapsed. "Oh man, that was to close." Suddenly, he felt a chill run up his spine. Swallowing air, slowly but surely he turned around to see Recovery Girl sending him a cold death glare.

"I commend you for your quick thinking and, but it's unbecoming of a Hero to spread rumors," Recovery Girl said, her voice low and dangerous.

Izuku stared at the tiny old woman in abject horror as her fist tightened around her cane. 'I'm gonna die!' As soon as he was certain he was in for the cane beating of his life, Recovery Girl loosened her grip and sighed.

"I'll let it slide for today; I know you didn't mean anything by what you said." Recovery Started walking towards the door once more. Realizing he wasn't going to be beaten over the head with a cane, Izuku scrambled to his feet and followed after her.

"I'm sorry about what I said, I didn't mean to embarrass you," Izuku said as looked down at his shoes. "I panicked, and it was the first thing that to mind. Is there anything I can do you to make it up to you?"

"I told you, it's fine," Recovery Girl said tersely. "You did what you had to do to get out of a tough situation. It's an important but often overlooked quality for a hero."

"But I-"

"No buts!" Recovery Girl exclaimed as she spun around and pointed her cane at Izuku. "Take the compliment and be done with it. Honestly, learn to have a little pride in your accomplishments."

Taken aback by her words, Izuku smiled. "Thank you, Recovery Girl."

She smiled back. "You're welcome. Besides, I'll just ask All Might to put you through the wringer during your next training session."

Stopping dead in his tracks, Izuku went white as a sheet. Staring off into the distance, one thought ruled his mind. 'I'm a dead man.'

* * *

The following day found Mitsuki and her husband Masaru shopping together at their favorite grocery store, Seven Cats Market. While Seven Cats was a relatively new player in Japan's grocery store market, they had exploded onto the scene when Mitsuki was in high school, and her future husband in college and quickly became one of the biggest market chains in the country.

"So what are you thinking for dinner? I'm in the mood for curry," Masaru said as he carried a shopping basket, his wife walking next to him. He was a man of above average height, an average build, with soft square features. He had spiky hair much like his wife and son except brown instead of blond, oval-shaped brown eyes, and a short mustache.

"You're always in the mood for curry. Katsuki too," Mitsuki said as she looked over her list. "If I listened to you two, curry is all we'd fucking eat."

"Come on; you love it too."

"Damn right I love it, but I like to eat more than one fucking thing like a normal person."

He was about to protest when Masaru's eyes landed on the fish display. "Honey, take a look."

Mitsuki looked up to see a woman putting stickers on the labels, with Salmon being marked down 70%. An almost predatory smile found its way to Mitsuki's face as her eyes lit up. "Great find, let's go!" She grabbed Masaru's hand, and they went flying to the fish display.

She came to screeching halt when upon nearly colliding with another woman.

"AAHH!" the woman screamed.

"Shit! Sorry about that," Mitsuki apologized. Her eyes widened in realization when she saw who she'd almost run into. "Inko, how are?"

Blinking in surprise, the short, green-haired woman stared up before smiling pleasantly. "Oh, Mitsuki, it's so good to see." She looked behind the blonde to see her husband. "And Masaru. Isn't this my lucky day?"

"I'll tell ya," Mitsuki said before turning to the stunned woman behind the counter. "Two pounds of salmon."

"So, how have you been, Inko?" Masaru asked with a smile.

"I've been just wonderful, I bought an Italian cookbook last week, and I've been having a blast trying out recipes," Inko said.

"Not surprised, you've always loved to cook, even before your kid's stomach turned into a bottomless pit," Mitsuki said as she took the salmon wrapped in brown paper.

"What have you two been up to?"

"Working mostly," Masaru said. "We've gotten a lot of orders from some well-paying clients and have been scrambling to finish them." His face morphed into a grimace before he continued. "One client has particularly…difficult, to say the least."

"Difficult how?"

"She's a stupid bitch who doesn't know what she wants," Mitsuki exclaimed.

Masaru sent his wife an admonishing look.

"What? You know it's true," Mitsuki said. She turned to Inko with an exasperated look on her face. "This chick wants us to design a nightgown for her that's 'bold and brash,' and 'an absolute head turner.' But also has to be 'subtle and subdued.'" She let out a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I swear I don't know what's worse; people like her who don't have a clue about what they want or control freaks who try and micromanage every step of the design."

Inko let out a soft laugh. "Well, I'm certainly glad I'm not in the fashion industry. You know, my little Izuku's got a part-time job."

"Really, what does he do?" Masaru asked.

Inko gently tugged on her bottom lip. "I guess you he's an errand boy, but his boss called it something more specific."

"Errand boy? Do mean a gofer?"

"That's it. It's such an odd name, sounds like that little animal that lives underground." Inko and Masaru shared a laugh.

"You know, I ran into Izuku yesterday," Mitsuki said.

Inko looked up in surprise. "Really, where?"

"Down at a Yo-Kuro Memorial," Mitsuki explained. "I was on my way from the OB/GYN when saw him and your aunt."

"My…aunt?" Inko said slowly.

Mitsuki raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, she asked him to take her there… didn't she?"

An ugly silence filled the air as Inko stared at Mitsuki like she was a madwoman. Masaru and his wife shifted uncomfortably where they stood, rooted to the spot. The couple wanted to say something, but found themselves unable too, as if under a spell.

Suddenly, Inko's face broke out into a grin. "Oh that's right, how could I forget," she said lightly with a wave of her hand. "I guess it just slipped my mind. Silly me."

Mitsuki and Masaru each let out a breath they hadn't realized they were holding and let their shoulders relax.

"That's good. You really freaked us out there for a second," Masaru admitted. "Anyway, we should get going. Have a wonderful day."

"You too," Inko said as the couple walked off. As soon as they were out of sight, Inko's smile turned into a grimace. She turned to the woman behind the counter and asked for 10 pounds of salmon before taking out her phone. Opening up 'Messages,' she started typing out a text to her son.

 **[Inko]**

 **Hello, sweetheart**

 **I wanted to ask you to invite Mr. Yagi over for dinner tomorrow night**

 **[Izuku]**

 **Sure, I'll ask**

 **What are we having?**

 **[Inko]**

 **Tonight it's beef curry and udon**

 **I'm making salmon tomorrow**

 **Seven Cats was having a sale**

 **[Izuku]**

 **YUM!**

 **Can't wait :)**

Inko closed her phone and narrowed her eyes. 'Something's not right, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it.' She took the salmon and placed into her already packed cart. With a mission in mind, she walked off with a dark look her face.

The poor woman behind the counter, bless her soul, was left hopelessly confused.

* * *

"I'm glad your mother invited me over, young Midoriya," Toshinori said as he walked up to the Midoriya's apartment alongside his protégé. "It's been too long since I've had home cooked salmon."

"Uh-huh," Izuku said, not sparing Toshinori a glance.

The blonde man's face twisted in concern. "Are you alright, my boy?"

"What?" Izuku said, looking in surprise. "Sorry about that, I'm fine."

Toshinori furrowed his brow. "You were distracted during training today, so I suspect you're not 'alright' as you say."

"No, no, I'm fine," Izuku protested as he held up his hands. He sighed and looked down. "It's my mom. She was…off, yesterday. This morning too."

"Off?"

"Yeah, it was weird." Izuku put his hand on his chin contemplatively. "My mom almost burnt the rice last night and nearly forgot to put the vegetables in the curry. And she was quiet during dinner."

"Do you think she's sick?" Toshinori asked in concern.

Izuku shook his head. "It was more like she was…distracted, I guess. Like she had something on her mind." He rubbed the back of his head. "I tried asking her about it this morning, but she rushed me out the door."

"Maybe she simply had an off day," Toshinori said. "It happens to the best of us."

Izuku hummed in contemplation as they reached his front door. "You're probably right, but, I don't know, I've got this weird feeling something's…" He suddenly became very quiet as he opened the door. "…Not…right."

Cautiously, Izuku and Toshinori took off their shoes, slipped on the house slippers, and walked in.

The normally bright and welcoming home of the Midoriya's had suddenly taken on a dark and oppressive atmosphere. There wasn't anything physically different about the apartment. All the furniture was where it should be, the pictures on the walls stayed in place, and all the light were on. Even the smell of Inko's delicious cooking wafted through the air. But it was as if the very air itself had become heavy with…something that neither Izuku nor Toshinori could identify. All they knew was that they didn't like it.

As they walked through the halls, they saw Inko sitting at the kitchen table with a pot of tea in front of her. Once the two had laid eyes on her, they realized the dark atmosphere was _emanating_ from her.

"Izuku, Mr. Yagi," Inko said slowly and dangerously. "Why don't you sit down and have a cup of tea while dinner's cooking."

Izuku stared in shock, frozen in place by fear. "Uh, mom, what's going-"

"Sit. Down. Now." In an instant, both were sitting down across from Inko as she poured them both a cup of tea. "So, how was your day, Izuku?"

"F-f-fine," Izuku managed to spit out through his nerves.

"That's good," Inko said before she took a sip of her tea. "I ran into Mitsuki at Seven Cats yesterday."

Izuku's body went rigid.

"And she told me something rather interesting; she saw you at the hospital with your great aunt on Saturday." Her eyes narrowed, and she linked her hands together. "But I'm a little confused; I have two aunts, Miwa who lives in all the way up in Wakkanai in Hokkaido, and Airi who lives in down in Okinawa. So, I have a question; who were you with?"

"I, uhm, the thing is, I-" Izuku tried with all his might to give her an explanation, but it seemed no matter what he couldn't say what wanted to.

"Mrs. Midoriya!" Toshinori exclaimed. "Please, none of this is your son's fault. I…I am to blame, but I would greatly appreciate it if you would allow me to explain."

Stunned by his sudden outburst, Inko narrowed her eyes him but allowed him to speak. "Okay."

Toshinori sighed. "Do you remember all those months ago when I told you about the doctor I took Young Midoriya to?"

She nodded. "Yes, I think her name was Dr. Shun, was it?"

"It's Shuzenji, Chiyo Shuzenji," Toshinori went on. "You see, my line of work puts me into contact with a lot of Pro Heroes. That includes Recovery Girl, whose real name is Chiyo Shuzenji."

"So, Izuku was at the hospital with Recovery Girl?" Inko asked, and Toshinori nodded in response. "Why? Is there something wrong with him?" Fear tinged Inko's voice.

"No! Nothing's wrong with me," Izuku blurted out. He took a deep breath to steady himself and looked his mother straight in the eye. "The truth is, Recovery Girl has been helping get the hang of my Quirk, and she's been taking me to different hospitals so I can practice and heal patients."

"That's it," Inko said softly. "You've been going around with Dr. Shuzenji and…healing people?"

Izuku shrank into himself and nodded.

In an instant, Inko stood up from her and rushed over to her son. "Oh Izuku, my sweet, sweet baby!" She moved away and cupped his cheek, gently guiding him to look at her. "Why did you ever think you needed to hide this from me?"

Despite his best efforts, Izuku couldn't help but look away. "I guess I thought you wouldn't approve." His voice was soft and meek, his eyes filled with shame and guilt.

Inko gasped at her son's words. "Why wouldn't I approve?!"

"I don't know!" Izuku said as he gripped the fabric of his pants so tight his knuckles turned white. "I wasn't asked to keep it a secret, but I did, and I- and I-" He was forced to stop to rub the tears from his eyes as shame and guilt bubbled up inside of him. "I'm sorry, mom."

As she looked her son with tears in his eyes, Inko couldn't help but feel guilt well up inside her as well. The memory of when she'd practically told him he couldn't be a hero came rushing back to her with a vengeance. "It's okay, Izuku." She gently embraced him, rubbing soothing circles in his back. "I'm so, so sorry I made think you couldn't come to me about this. There's nothing you could do that I wouldn't support."

Taken aback for a moment, Izuku smiled and hugged his mom back. "Thank you."

Mother and son pulled away from each other, and Inko kissed Izuku on his forehead. "I'll go get dinner, so just relax."

Soon after, all three were enjoying a delicious meal of Teriyaki Salmon. As they ate, Izuku told Inko about his trips with Recovery Girl around the city to different hospitals and the patients he'd healed.

"My, you've certainly been busy," Inko said with a smile. Suddenly, she pressed her lips into a thin line and briefly looked down at her plate before returning her gaze to Izuku. "Honey, is it alright if I ask you something about your Quirk Practice?"

Izuku was about to say something but realized he had a full mouth, so he simply nodded.

"Well, the thing is," Inko began as she wrung her hands nervously. "Are you practicing with Dr. Shuzenji- I mean Recovery Girl- so you can apply for UA?"

Izuku stopped chewing for a moment, stunned. He swallowed his food and bashfully rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, yeah."

Inko smiled at her son, not surprised in the slightest. "I figured as much, but I just wanted to make sure. Going to UA's been your dream forever, so I'm happy you're working hard for it."

Izuku stared at her a moment before giving a bright smile of his own. "Thanks, mom."

Suddenly, Inko sent a look at Toshinori that gave him shivers down his spine. "And I assume your new muscles have something to do with it too?"

Toshinori swallowed air and gave a nervous chuckle. "Admittedly, yes, Young Midoriya did tell me about his aspirations of attending All Might's alma mater, so I encouraged him to start working out in preparation." He brought his hands up in an almost defensive manner before he continued. "Please do not misunderstand, Mrs. Midoriya. Your son is working under me, and we never meant to deceive you." He sighed as guilt filled his eyes. "And I am truly sorry I didn't tell you about Young Midoriya's training with Recovery Girl. As his mother, you were entitled to that information, and it was a terrible lapse in judgment on my part."

Inko gave Toshinori a soft and gentle smile. "Well, you're certainly right about that, it was a pretty dumb thing to do," she said in a sweet tone that betrayed her words.

'Mom, what the heck!' Izuku thought as he gaped at his mother.

'Well, that was certainly blunt!' Toshinori screamed in his mind. Inko's words felt like a slap in the face, albeit a well-deserved one.

"But, I'll accept your apology," Inko said. "You've been a great help to Izuku, and I can tell you're a kind man so I can forgive you. Just promise you'll tell me about whatever other stuff you're doing."

"O-of course," Toshinori said with a nervous chuckle.

Inko smiled, assuming his nerves were due to her little jab at him and went to grab another more rice for herself. What she didn't see was the guilty look shared between her son and Toshinori.

'It's been a long night; I'll tell her some other time,' Izuku thought.

* * *

The next at school, Izuku once again found himself in the teacher's room, courtesy of Mr. Kita's invitation. Thankfully, Izuku had been able to bury his face in a textbook and avoid talking to his homeroom teacher under the pretense of studying (which, once again, is technically not a lie.) He briefly looked over his book to see Mr. Kita doing paperwork with his ostentatious gold colored pen.

'He really loves that pen,' Izuku idly thought as he chewed on a piece of grilled pork.

Mr. Kita, noticing Izuku's gaze, looked up at the boy with a grin. "Need something?"

"No, I'm good," Izuku blurted out. "Just thinking that your pen is, uh, neeto."

'Neeto, who the heck says neeto anymore,' Izuku thought, mentally kicking himself.

'Neeto, are kids saying that nowadays?' Mr. Kita thought as he scratched his chin. 'Maybe I'll try saying that!'

"Well, I think you're pretty neeto yourself, Izuku!" the teacher exclaimed.

An ugly silence filled the air between as the green haired boy stared at his teacher, absolutely baffled by his choice of words.

Izuku forced out a nervous laugh as stared at Mr. Kita. "That's…nice?"

The bell rang, cutting off Mr. Kita as he was about to reply.

"Uhm, I'd better get to my next class," Izuku said as he gathered up his things. "See you later, Mr. Kita. Have a nice day." With that, he bolted out the door.

Izuku got to the end of the hall and stopped to take a breath. 'I know Mr. Kita means wells, but does he to be so weird about it?' He rubbed his temples and sighed, and starting walking back to his classroom.

Suddenly, Izuku realized his book bag felt lighter. 'What the heck?' He opened up the bag and started rummaging around inside and came to a horrible realization. 'Oh no! I left my textbook back in the teacher's room.' With a grimace on his face, Izuku begrudgingly made his way back to the teacher's room. He put his hand on the door, when suddenly-

"I'm telling you, that kid's my ticket to easy street."

-he heard Mr. Kita's voice.

He stopped, eyes widened in shock at what he'd just heard. With morbid curiosity overtaking him, Izuku pressed his ear against the door.

"For the last time, we don't want to hear about your stupid delusions!" Izuku heard Mr. Honda yell.

"Oh come on, I know the kid's still warming up to me, but by the end of the year he'll see me as a second dad!" Mr. Kita said.

'What the heck are they talking about?' Izuku thought with a frown.

"It's the perfect plan; Midoriya's been ignored and ridiculed by everyone since he was a kid. Then, I come in, the kind and caring father figure missing from his life to guide him mold him into the smart and successful young man I know he can be. And when he graduates and eventually goes onto college, he'll be so thankful that's he's bound to share his success with me!"

'WHAT!' Izuku screamed in his mind as clapped a hand over his mouth to suppress a gasp.

"That plan is insane," Izuku heard Ms. Sasaki drawl. "Besides, what's stopping us from going to the principal and getting some brownie points by ratting you out?"

"That's an easy question." Izuku could _hear_ the grin on Mr. Kita's face. "Because if you do, then I'll tell him about your little liquor stash and the fact you two take bribes from parents to give their kids better grades. Either one would enough to get you fired."

No sound came from the room for almost a minute until someone sighed.

"Fine, do whatever you want," Mr. Honda said. "But how do you know he'll even get into a good school?"

"Easy, his Quirk," Mr. Kita said. "Midoriya getting that Quirk was the best thing to ever happen to me. Everyone will want a piece of him when he graduates thanks to it, but he'll give his wonderful homeroom teacher all the credit. If he didn't get it, he'd be a loser destined for a life of mediocrity, or worse."

As Mr. Kita let out a laugh, the green-haired boy could only stand there in shock.

Hearing these words should have made Izuku angry, they should have made him feel betrayed. He should have felt any number of emotions. But instead, Izuku felt…nothing.

He was completely numb.

Izuku didn't stay to listen to whatever else they had to say and wandered back to class in a daze, his book forgotten. He barely registered the teacher scolding him for almost being late and quietly took his seat.

'What am I gonna do?' Izuku asked him as he pulled out an energy bar and slowly chewed on it.

The energy bar was strawberry flavored, but it tasted like ash.

* * *

 **Holy Crap! This was supposed to be around 3,000 to 4,000 words, but it somehow ended up at over 7,000 words!**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter; it was fun to write.**

 **It looks like Izuku now knows about Mr. Kita's true intentions, but the question is what he will do next.**

 **Please leave a comment/review if you feel inclined. I love reading what you guys have to say, be it compliments or constructive criticism, both drive me to write!**

 **I hope you have a wonderful day, and please come and scream at me on Tumblr xpegasusuniverse or Twitter JackJVilardi.**


	8. If Only I Had Thorns Like a Thistle

The Healing Touch Chapter 8: If Only I Had Thorns Like a Thistle

By

Xpegasus

 **AN:**

 **So…it's been about two months since the last chapter, how have you all been? I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter out, real life got in the way.**

 **First of all, I want to thank you all so much for leaving so many wonderful comments on the last chapter! I loved everything you had to say, and it got me excited to work on this chapter!**

 **Unfortunately, because of the sheer number of comments I've been receiving I can no longer guarantee I'll be able to respond to every comment, but I'll try my hardest to respond. Especially to reviews on because the process of responding to reviews is…not user-friendly.**

 **All of you seem to hate Mr. Kita (which is completely understandable,) and I suspect that you'll really begin to despise him this chapter.**

… **But I should warn you, as I've continued writing this story, my feelings towards Mr. Kita and my plans for him have changed drastically. Originally he was just supposed to be a one-off antagonist that would disappear after the next couple chapters, but now I'm not so sure.**

 **Please leave a comment if you feel inclined and I'll try my best to respond promptly, and come check out my Tumblr, xpegasusuinverse, and my Twitter, JackJVilardi. I've also set up a new side blog on Tumblr called mhathehealingtouch dedicated to this fic and its world.**

 **Let's get on with the show!**

* * *

It was a chilly and wet Wednesday morning in the city of Musutafu. Rain drenched Aldera Junior High since the early hours of the morning, and it wasn't stopping any time soon.

School had just begun, and Mr. Kita was taking attendance.

But Izuku's mind was a million miles away. The teacher's voice passed went in one ear and out the other as Izuku stared off into space. He was still reeling from what he'd overheard from the teacher's room yesterday, trying desperately to rationalize the vile things they'd said, telling himself he heard them wrong, that it was all in his head.

But…

'I can't deny it,' Izuku thought as he looked down at his hands. 'It makes too much sense.' He ran a hand through his hair and took tight fistful. 'Damn it! Why didn't I see it sooner? As if a teacher would actually care about me, he just saw my Quirk and-' Izuku let go of his hair and looked back down at his desk.

'What am I gonna do?' He thought as mulled over his options. 'I don't want Mr. Kita to get fired; he's probably a nice…okay, maybe a decent person underneath what I've seen so far. But I can't let Mr. Honda and Ms. Sasaki get away with changing grades for bribes.' He gently pulled on his lower lip as an idea began to form. 'Maybe if we can go to the principal together? Yeah! If we go to Principal Narukami together and tell him about Mr. Honda and Ms. Sasaki, then there's no way he'll believe them if they try and rat Mr. Kita out, then we can go our separate ways. It's perfect!'

"-Midoriya!"

"WAH!" the green haired boy cried out. He looked up to see Mr. Kita and all his classmates (sans Bakugo) staring at him. With a sheepish smile on his face, Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "Uhm, sorry. Present."

Mr. Kita grinned. "Great, thought we'd lost you there for a second. Wouldn't want a repeat of your fainting spell."

Izuku let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I think the nurse wants to keep all her lollipops."

Mr. Kita let out a cough before he continued down his list. "Nakahara, is Nakahara here?"

Izuku sighed as Mr. Kita continued taking roll, going over his strategy to confront Mr. Kita in his head. Suddenly, he felt a tingling sensation at the back of his neck. He glanced back and saw a boy with a black and white afro that reminded Izuku of marble cake glaring at him. The boy mouthed "Teacher's pet" at Izuku and gave him a middle finger before quickly turning back Mr. Kita.

'Why does this keep happening,' Izuku thought with a grimace as he looked away from the student with marble cake hair, trying to focus on his plan. Ever since Bakugo had decided to start ignoring Izuku instead of bullying him, many of the other students had decided to follow suit. What bullies that did remain had slowly left after he revealed his Quirk, be it out some new found respect of just boredom Izuku didn't know (but he if had to guess he'd bet on the latter.)

Overall, while the situation had gotten much better. It was still far from perfect, given Izuku lack of any friends and new status as 'teacher pet.' While the newfound attention from Mr. Kita mostly stopped students from coming after him as they had in the past, the ire drew from other students didn't go unnoticed by Izuku. Ironically, it was because of the attention Mr. Kita paid him that didn't go any further, so Izuku took what he could get.

'Maybe they'll stop once I get Mr. Kita to leave me alone?' Izuku though with a sight.

"Yokoyama, is Yokoyama here?"

"I'm here," said the boy with the marble cake afro.

"Alright, that's everyone," Mr. Kita said. "Oh, just a quick reminder, this Friday is the last day to turn in your permission slips for next week's field trip. If any you have yours signed, give them to me now. If you don't, make sure you have your parents sign them tonight or tomorrow."

A few students pulled their permission slips out their bags, and others mentally kicked themselves for forgetting theirs. However, Bakugo found himself staring at Izuku out of the corner of his eye, his face marred with his usual scowl. The ash blond boy could see the gears turning the green haired boy's head.

'What the hell are you planning, you piece of shit?' Bakugo thought as he watched Izuku pull out a granola bar.

* * *

The day went on as normal, and soon enough it was time for lunch.

Reacting purely on instinct, Izuku stood up and was about to make a bolt for the door, but then remembered his plan. 'Oh, right, I should probably go and eat lunch with Mr. Kita.' Even with every nerve in his body screaming at him to run away, Izuku walked towards the front of the room. Mr. Kita was rummaging through his bag and didn't notice the green haired boy approaching.

"Uh, hey Mr. Kita," Izuku said.

"Yes, what is-" Mr. Kita abruptly stopped when he looked up to see Izuku standing in front of him.

"So, uh, should we head to the teacher's room," Izuku said with a strained smile. "You know, for lunch."

In a split second, Mr. Kita's face turned from surprise to almost manic joy as a huge grin spread across his face. "Of course, Midoriya! Just give me a second." He went back rummaging through his bag.

'Okay, just need to get him alone and tell him the truth, then this will all be over,' Izuku thought. Suddenly, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand and a chill run down his spine. Glancing behind, Izuku saw Bakugo giving him his signature death glare. 'Why is Kacchan glaring at me like that? He hasn't spoken to me in months, much less looked at me, so why now?' Cold sweat ran down Izuku back Bakugo tried to bore a hole through Izuku's head.

"Alright, let's go," Mr. Kita said with a smile as picked up his bag.

"R-right," Izuku said, turning away from Bakugo. As he walked out the door with his teacher, Izuku could feel Bakugo's eyes trailing after him, as if hoping his gaze would set Izuku ablaze.

As they made their way to the teacher's room, Izuku was mentally preparing himself to confront Mr. Kita once they were alone. But when his teacher opened the door, Izuku's plan fell apart. 'Right, I forgot about those two.'

Sitting at their desks like always were Mr. Honda and Ms. Sasaki. In his combination of excitement and nerves, Izuku had managed to forget about the two of them until now. 'Dang it, I went with him willingly for nothing,' Izuku thought. He sat down next Mr. Kita and opened up his four layered bento. 'Well, I guess I'm stuck here. I'll just have to tell him after school,' Izuku thought as chewed on a piece of broccoli.

"So, how are you today, Izuku?" Mr. Kita asked as Izuku swallowed his mouthful.

"Uh, fine," Izuku said hesitantly. "So, what were you looking for in your bag?"

"Just my phone, I wanted to check my emails before coming here," Mr. Kita said.

"Really? Why couldn't you wait until you got here?"

Mr. Kita pursed his lips. "Well, that's because it was a personal, not a work email. We're not exactly allowed to check our personal messages while we're on the clock."

'You try and manipulate me, but you're worried about getting caught checking your personal email at work!' Izuku thought, trying not to show his shock.

"Oh, what kind of email were you waiting for?" Izuku asked with a forced smile.

Mr. Kita went stiff, seemingly taken aback by Izuku's question. "I'm waiting for an email from Zarudate," he said nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Izuku, despite himself, found himself intrigued. "Zarudate, you mean the publishing company?"

Mr. Kita let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I sent them my manuscript about a month ago, and they should be getting back to me today."

Suddenly, a high pitched laugh rang through the air. Izuku and Mr. Kita turned to see Ms. Sasaki trying and failing to contain her laughter.

"Just what the hell do you think is so funny?" Mr. Kita asked with a scowl.

"Oh, only the fact you're still trying to get published," Ms. Sasaki said with a smirk. "You've been sending out your manuscripts since you started working here and not one publisher's touched a single one."

"I'd thought you'd done the sensible thing and given up on writing," Mr. Honda said, not even glancing up from his paperwork. "Honestly, how many times does someone need to knock you down before you understand no one wants to read your crappy novel?"

"Shut your trap, Honda!" Mr. Kita practically shouted as he stood up. "At least I have dreams and aspirations; you two just sit on your asses not giving a crap about anything!"

Izuku sat there, stunned by what was happening. He looked between Mr. Kita and Mr. Honda and Ms. Sasaki, unsure of what to say, unsure _if_ he should say anything.

"Say what you want about dreams, but we've all got our place in this world," Mr. Honda said languidly. "Everyone is born with a role to play, and all we can do is try to make the best of it; you, I, and Sasaki were just dealt shit roles."

"Honda, stop antagonizing him," Ms. Sasaki said with a bored look on her face as she played with a strand of chocolate brown hair. "Let the man stay in his deluded little bubble; it'll keep him from annoying us any more than he normally does."

With that, the room went deathly quiet for a solid minute. Finally, Mr. Kita sighed and sat back and turned back to Izuku. "Sorry, you had to see that. I can get pretty emotional about my writing."

"I-it's okay," Izuku said. "Actually, I'd like to know more your book."

Mr. Kita's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Izuku nodded, and at that moment Mr. Kita started talking a mile a minute about his novel. It was a fantasy story about a young knight named Leo on a quest to save a princess named Anastasia from an evil Warlock named Balthazar. It sounded very clichéd; even Mr. Kita admitted that, but Izuku found himself intrigued. As Mr. Kita talked more about the story, the characters, and the world they lived, the green haired boy found himself entranced. For the first time, Izuku found himself truly enjoying having a conversation with his homeroom teacher and was actually asking questions about the subject it.

"So wait, Leo and Anastasia are the reincarnations of the first King and Queen of Albaron?" Izuku asked animatedly.

"That's right," Mr. Kita said excitedly. "And the reason Balthazar kidnapped Anastasia is that he knew Leo would come after her and so he could trick them into releasing the demon the first royals sealed away a thousand years ago."

"Woah, that so cool," Izuku said. "So then the reason he stole the jewels from that Great Dragon is because-"

*BBBRRRIIINNNGGG*

'What the heck?' Izuku thought. He looked up and saw the clock, shocked to find that lunch was over. 'Lunch is over already, how!?'

"Guess, time flies when you're having fun," Mr. Kita said. "Oh, I almost forgot." He reached into his desk and brought out Izuku textbook and handed it back to the boy. "You left this here yesterday."

"Thanks, I was looking for this," Izuku said.

'I mean, it's not technically a lie. Right?' the green haired boy thought.

"You're welcome," Mr. Kita said with a smile that didn't make Izuku uncomfortable. "Now get to class, you don't want to get in trouble."

"Okay. Goodbye, Mr. Kita," Izuku said with a small bow.

"Later, Izuku. We'll talk more tomorrow."

"R-right," Izuku said, an unexpected pang of guilt ringing through his chest. He walked out the door, off to his classroom.

As his student left the teacher's room, Mr. Kita felt something warm and fuzzy blossom in his chest. 'I can't believe it; the kid was interested in my book; no one's ever interested in my book. Except for Honoka.' For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Mr. Kita felt as though he'd made a real, genuine connection with one of his students. A small and genuine smile found its way to the teacher's face. 'Midoriya's a nice kid.'

"Oh, I get it," Ms. Sasaki's voice shattered the calm quiet of the room. "You want that kid to fund your shitty novel and get it published."

Mr. Kita stiffened. He turned to see a small, cruel smile on the brunette's lips.

"Now it all fits together," Mr. Honda interjected, finally looking up from his desk. "With a Quirk like his that kid is going places, and you think if he gets your book off the ground you'll somehow become the next Haruki Murakami or Takara Yukimura."

Mr. Kita's left eye began to twitch as his smile turned into a scowl. "Why you little-"

"Shut up, Kita," Ms. Sasaki blurted out. "You've been bragging about your scheme to manipulate that little brat for months, the only thing that's changed is that now we know the real reason." She reached into her desk and pulled out a flask and poured a generous portion into her coffee cup. "I thought you'd finally up on your stupid dream and were just looking for a way to Easy Street, but this is just pathetic."

Ms. Sasaki's words penetrated Mr. Kita like daggers. He felt like screaming, but he simply stood there and gritted his teeth.

"Look, Kita, this is how it works," Mr. Honda said as he played with a strand of his orange curls. "The world is divided into Haves and Have-Nots; sometimes you can go your whole life thinking you're a Have-Not but turn out to be a Have like Midoriya. But it's too late for you; it's too late for Sasaki and me; we're all Have-Nots, and nothing will change that. You can try as hard as you can, but you'll always be a loser, you've just gotta make the best of it like us." He checked the time on his phone and stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, one of my students is waiting for me with a wad of cash so I can change his last test grade from a C to an A." He stalked out of the room and closed the door with a slam.

The room went deathly quiet, Mr. Kita's eyes were locked on the door.

Ms. Sasaki took great joy in watching Mr. Kita's face fall as she sipped down her booze and coffee, her pink eyes dancing with vile glee.

* * *

Unknown to any of the teachers, at the same time another confrontation was taking place.

As Izuku walked down the hall back to his classroom, his mind was buzzing with thoughts over what had just happened. 'Mr. Kita seemed genuine when he was talking about his book, and I didn't feel uncomfortable talking to him.' He gently pulled on his bottom lip in contemplation. 'Was it a trick? Does he know I know? And if it wasn't, should I give him another chance?' The boy stopped in his tracks and shook his head. 'What am I thinking!? If I do that I'll just be going along with his plans.' He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'But-'

"DEKU!" a voice bellowed from behind, snapping Izuku out of his thoughts.

"AH!" Izuku yelped. He turned around, already aware of who it was. "K-K-Kacchan, wh-what are you doing here?"

"Shut up, you fat nerd!" Bakugo growled. The ash blond teen was seething with rage as he stomped over towards Izuku with his signature scowl on his face. "I've had just about enough of your stupid little schemes!" He let off small crackles of explosions from his palm that made Izuku take a few steps back.

"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about, Kacchan," Izuku said, voice trembling.

"Don't play dumb you piece of shit," Bakugo said. "I've seen you crawling over to that pathetic excuse of a teacher and licking his shoes ever since you let everyone know about your Quirk. It makes me sick."

Izuku stared at the blond teen with shocked wide eyes. "I…what?"

"Don't think I haven't seen you getting all buddy-buddy with that shit-stain Kita," Bakugo growled. He leaned forward, and Izuku let out a whimper. "All these months you've been running off with that fake-blond loser during lunch, scheming behind everyone's back. I don't know what the hell you two are planning, but whatever it is, it's not gonna work."

Even though he was trembling where he stood, Izuku was more confused than afraid at this point. He couldn't begin to comprehend how Bakugo could have possibly interpreted his and Mr. Kita's relationship like this.

Izuku swallowed a mouthful of air and forced himself to speak. "L-l-listen, Kacchan, I don't know what you think's going on between Mr. Kita and me, but it's not what you think it is. He's just-"

"Be quiet!" Bakugo yelled as he grabbed Izuku's collar and slammed him against a wall.

Izuku let out a grunt of pain. "Kacchan, wait-"

"I've sat by and watched you and that Mr. Fuck-face run off together for too fucking long. Seeing you be so blatant about today was the last fucking straw! If you think kissing up to that bastard will somehow help you get into UA, you're wrong." Bakugo let go of Izuku's collar and stepped back, letting the green haired boy slide down the wall. "It's pathetic; someone who can't even stand on their own two feet has no chance of becoming a hero."

Bakugo started to walk away, leaving Izuku leaning against the wall, an unreadable expression on the green haired boy's face.

* * *

And so, the day went on, as expected the rain hadn't let up at all and didn't seem to be going anywhere, and both Izuku and Bakugo got in trouble for being late to class. Neither one had paid much attention to the rest of their lessons that day. Bakugo because he was still seething in anger, and Izuku because he'd been lost in thought.

As Izuku and classmates cleaned the classroom, one thought reverberated through the green haired boy's head over and over again.

" _It's pathetic; someone who can't even stand on their own two feet has no chance of becoming a hero."_

Even though Bakugo had been completely off-base about his and Mr. Kita's relationship, something about the blond boy's words had struck a chord with Izuku. 'I can't believe I'm saying this, err, well, I mean thinking this, but Kacchan's right,' Izuku thought as he wiped down a desk. 'Even if there's a chance that Mr. Kita's not all bad, I can't just let him get away with trying to manipulate me.' He walked over to another desk and started scrubbing it, the cloth in a vice like grip. 'If I can't stand up to Mr. Kita then how am I supposed to stand up to Villains? Mom, Dad, All Might, Recovery Girl, they're all supporting me, so I have to work hard and be the best I can.'

With a newfound determination filling his heart, Izuku left the classroom to find Mr. Kita!

…well, he would do that as soon as he and his classmates were done cleaning their classroom.

* * *

"Man this sucks," a boy with a thin face and shoulder-length brown hair said. His name was Nobu Maeda, or as Bakugo liked to call him, Fingers, because of his Quirk that allowed him to extend his fingers. "Having to walk home in the rain is bullshit."

"Quit your bellyaching; you've got your umbrella," another boy with short, curly, black hair in an undercut and square face said. His name was Yasu Nakahara, or as Bakugo liked to call him, Curly Top, because of his hair. "Let's head down to the arcade, I heard they got a new game."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Bakugo drawled as he opened his shoe locker. As he took off his school slippers and exchanged them for his sneakers, Bakugo tried to block whatever Maeda and Nakahara were talking about.

'Why the do I hang out with these losers?' Bakugo thought callously. It was a question he found himself asking a lot. Despite having known Maeda and Nakahara for as long as he could remember, Bakugo didn't consider either of them his friends. They were losers like everyone else, the wannabes and background characters who wouldn't accomplish anything worthwhile in their lives. He knew for a fact the only reason Maeda and Nakahara stuck around him was that Bakugo was top dog at Alder Junior High and nobody, absolutely nobody, messed with him. Being close to him meant no one would risk messing with them.

Bakugo sighed. 'I guess it's fun to whoops their asses at video games, and hanging out with them keeps mom off my back.' He scowled as he remembered the occasions his mother had told she 'concerned about him' because he apparently wasn't 'socializing well' and 'barely had any friends.' Thankfully, bringing Maeda and Nakahara to his house a couple of times a month and hanging out with them after school kept Mitsuki from prying too much. 'As if I need _friends_ , they'd just slow me down.'

He went to grab his umbrella; he noticed something strange. Despite having seen Izuku leave the classroom before him, the green haired boy's All Might umbrella (which Bakugo _was not_ jealous of) was still in the school umbrella holder. 'Little bastard must be busy kissing that fake blond's ass,' Bakugo thought with a scowl as he pulled out his umbrella. He walked out the doors and into the rain, Maeda and Nakahara on either side of him

"So, what do you think, Bakugo?" Maeda asked.

"What the hell are you talking about, Fingers?" Bakugo said. "And don't walk so close, it's fucking annoying."

"Right," Nakahara said with a forced smile as he and Maeda fell behind Bakugo a couple of paces. "Anyway, me and Maeda were talking about next week's field trip. I'm pretty stoked to go."

"Of course you'd be excited to go see a bunch of fish," Maeda said in a faux-mocking tone. "That goldfish of yours is the closest thing you have to a girlfriend."

Nakahara let out a snorting laugh. "At least managed to I keep my fish alive. But seriously, the Aquarium's got a real life Great White Shark on display! Do you know how difficult it is to keep them in captivity? They're gonna release back into the ocean in the spring, so I'm glad we'll get to see it."

Despite himself, Bakugo couldn't help but give a vicious smile. "Guess you're right, Curly Top, getting too see that shark will make this stupid field trip worth it." As Bakugo reached the school's outer wall, he stopped dead in his tracks. Maeda and Nakahara stopped a moment a later and looked at each other with panic in their eyes.

"GODDAMNIT!" Bakugo screamed. He turned around and started walking back towards the school. Maeda and Nakahara parted like the Red Sea.

"Uh, where you going?" Nakahara asked, following after the angry blond. Maeda was behind him.

"I forgot to give that shitty teacher my shitty permission slip," Bakugo growled. "Now I've got to go and find him so I can see that shark."

"Okay," Maeda said nervously. "Do you want us to wait for you?"

Bakugo turned and glared at the brown haired boy. "I don't give a flying fuck what you and Curly Top do, Fingers. Go to the arcade without me it if you want." He stepped into the school and put away his umbrella, leaving his lackeys standing out in the rain.

The two teens looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

"So," Nakahara said. "I guess he'll meet us at the arcade?"

Maeda shrugged and turned back around away from the school.

* * *

'Come on, where is he,' Izuku thought as he wandered the hall in his search for Mr. Kita. Munching on a granola bar, he looked inside another room and, yet again, found it empty. 'Again? This is getting ridiculous.' Izuku sighed and stuffed the granola bar wrapper in his pocket. After he and his classmates finished cleaning their classroom, Izuku had been riding high off of his new burst of confidence and determination and had rushed off to find and confront Mr. Kita. He'd first looked in the teacher's room, but he wasn't there. After asking some of the other teachers about him, Izuku had begun searching the rest of the floor for his homeroom teacher. Unfortunately, Izuku found hide nor hair of Mr. Kita.

'Well, I guess there's always tomorrow,' Izuku thought as pulled out another granola bar and made his way to the front door. As he passed his classroom, he noticed something strange; the door was ajar. 'That's weird, that door was closed last time I saw it.' He went towards the door to investigate.

"DAMN IT!" a voice cried from the classroom, making Izuku jump back. The sound of something hitting the floor reverberated through the open door.

Izuku stood in front of the door, frozen, unsure of what to do. Suddenly, something clicked in his head. 'Wait a sec; I know that voice,' Izuku thought.

He opened the door to see Mr. Kita bending down to pick up his phone, his face hidden from the green haired boy. "Uh, Mr. Kita?"

The teacher looked up at Izuku with a panicked expression. "Oh! M-Midoriya, what are you doing here?"

Izuku went stiff, taken aback by his teacher's demeanor. "Uhm, I was looking for you, Mr. Kita."

"You were?" the teacher said. The pair stared at each in awkward silence for what felt like an eternity. Mr. Kita noticed Izuku absentmindedly glance towards his hand. He looked down and saw his phone. "Oh, I dropped my phone; guess you heard me yell." He rubbed the back of his head. "Bit of an overreaction I suppose."

"Uh, maybe," Izuku said nervously. "So…I wanted to talk to you about something. Something important."

"Oh, about what?"

Izuku took a deep breath to steady his nerves. "The thing is, I didn't forget about my textbook yesterday- I mean I did, at first, but then I came back for it."

Mr. Kita's body went rigid; his eyes widened in surprise. "You came back for it. Like, after class?"

"N-no," Izuku said, his voice shaking. He gripped his school bag with sweaty palms and forced down his nerves. "I realized I'd left it behind on my way to class, and I turned back around to grab it as soon as I did."

At this point, Mr. Kita had started leaning against one of the desks as stared at Izuku with wide, panic-ridden eyes.

"And, well," Izuku continued. "I overheard your conversation with Mr. Honda and Ms. Sasaki."

Instantly, all the color drained from Mr. Kita's face. "You did." His voice was barely a whisper, yet it carried across the entire room.

Izuku nodded. "I know what your intentions are for me, Mr. Kita." Slowly but surely, as Izuku spoke his voice became steadier, and body relaxed. "When I first heard what you said I was shocked, but it ended up making too much sense." He looked up at the teacher, eyes brimming with confidence. "I'm not some puppet for you to manipulate; I'm my own person with dreams and aspirations. I won't stand idly and let you try and ride my coattails! Your days of trying to get inside my head are over!"

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Mr. Kita stood across from Izuku, absolutely still.

"Okay, I'm glad I got that off my chest," Izuku said with a nervous laugh. "Don't worry; I'm not going -"

"Shut up!" Mr. Kita's voice cut through the air like a knife.

"Wha-what?" Izuku exclaimed. He looked and saw Mr. Kita's eyes swirling a thousand emotions and scowl on the teacher's face.

Mr. Kita stomped forwards and grabbed Izuku by the collar. "Listen to me you little bastard, if you even _think_ of telling anyone about what you heard, you'll regret it."

Izuku body trembled as all his confidence evaporated. "M-M-Mr. Kita, I don't- I wasn't-"

"Be quiet!" Mr. Kita screamed. He raised his hand and backhanded Izuku across his face, the sharp sound ringing through the air.

Stunned by the teacher's slapped, Izuku could only stare up at the man in terror. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes, the boy wanted to cry but held them back for fear of aggravating the teacher.

"You listen to me you little brat, if you even think about squealing, if I think for a second you're going to rat me out, I swear I'll put so many black marks on your permanent record no school in this whole goddamn country would let you through their front doors." Mr. Kita yanked Izuku closer, their faces inches away. "Do you understand?"

All Izuku could do was give a nod of understanding as the tears finally escaped his eyes.

Mr. Kita scowled. "Good." He shoved Izuku to the ground, and the boy let out a yelp of pain. "I am not some loser who's going to let a snot nosed brat who's been Quirkless for most of his life fuck everything up for me." He stomped out the classroom and slammed the door closed behind him.

With Mr. Kita gone, Izuku curled up into a ball on the floor and let his tears flow freely.

Unknown to either of them, hidden behind the corner of the hall was Bakugo. He'd come to the classroom in search of Mr. Kita but had stopped outside the door when he'd heard Izuku start talking. He'd heard everything, from the green haired boy's speech to Mr. Kita's threats and assault. Bakugo had bolted as soon as he'd heard Mr. Kita approach and hid.

He sat there in a daze, on thought reverberating through his mind. 'What the fuck?' Bakugo stood up and looked towards the classroom, the sounds of Izuku's sobs floating through the open door. After a moment's hesitation, Bakugo turned around and made a beeline for the exit, forgoing the arcade and instead went straight home.

* * *

Izuku hadn't gone to training with Toshinori today; when his mentor had called and asked where the green haired boy was, he'd simply said he wasn't feeling well and had to go home. It's wasn't a complete lie, Izuku really did feel like crap, but not in the way Toshinori thought.

After crying his eyes out, Izuku had left the school and wandered around aimlessly until dusk, then took a long and winding path back home rather than a direct route. When he'd reached the door to the Midoriya family's apartment, he was starving and wet. His stomach growled for food, but Izuku wasn't sure he could keep anything down.

"I'm home," he said halfheartedly, opening the door to the smell of his mother's cooking.

"Welcome home, Izuku," Inko said with a smile. As soon as she saw her son, Inko's smile morphed into a look of concern. "Uh, how was your day sweetie?"

"Fine," Izuku blurted out, not even look her in the eye. "I've got a lot of homework to do; I'd better get started."

"Izuku, wait," Inko cried out before Izuku could leave the room. "You know you can tell me anything, don't you?"

Izuku hesitated, his legs felt like stone. "Yeah, I know that."

The room went quiet; the only sound was the simmering pot on the stove.

"Sweetheart, is there anything you want to tell me?" Inko pleaded.

Before he even knew what he was doing, Izuku spun around and wrapped his arms around his mother and broke down in tears. Izuku opened his mouth, and everything about Mr. Kita came pouring out of him like water from a burst dam. As her son spoke, Inko's face morphed into a mask of horror and disgust.

"That's everything," Izuku said, wiping the last of his tears from his red-rimmed eyes. He looked down at the floor, feeling almost ashamed of himself. "I'm…I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner."

"Izuku."

The boy looked up and nearly gasped when he saw what could only be described as a furious, almost bloodthirsty look on her face.

"I want you to listen to me," Inko said as she placed a hand on her son's cheek. "This man is not going to get away with this. What he did was wrong, downright evil, and we are going to march into that school make sure he gets what he deserves."

Izuku was stunned by the sheer conviction in his mother's voice, all he could do was stare at her with wide, shocked eyes.

Suddenly, her face turned from a storm of righteous fury to a tranquil calming smile in an instant. "Okay, sweetheart?"

Despite everything, Izuku's face broke into a smile. "Okay."

* * *

Hours later and a few miles away, Mr. Kita found himself sitting in his bed in a pair of pink (formerly white) pajama pants and pajama shirt, staring at his phone and reading the same email for what was probably fifth or sixth time that day.

 _Dear Sir,_

 _Thank for submitting your manuscript for "The Chronicles of Albaron: The Fool's Heir" to us, we at Zarudate are always eager to find fresh talent to bring in._

 _Unfortunately, your novel can only be described as unreadable. It is simultaneously one of the most boring and generic fantasy novels I have ever been forced to read and so utterly convoluted and overly complex I got a headache trying to untangle the mess you call a "plot."_

 _The text is laden with so many details and information that the story grinds to a halt every other paragraph._

 _To navigate the winding, twisting, unending labyrinth that is the plot of your book, one would need a guidebook or map._

 _Your characters lack any sense of personality, individuality, or motivation and exist only to check off the boxes for fantasy novel clichés and to serve the story._

 _We at Zarudate will not be pursuing any further business with you, and we will not recommend you to any other publishers to subject to your awful excuse for a novel._

 _Sincerely,_

 _The Editor_

Mr. Kita grit his teeth as fought back a sob, gripping the bed sheets with his free hand.

"Hibiki," a soft voice said, catching the teacher's attention. "I don't think you should keep reading that, it can't be good for your mental health."

In the doorway to the bedroom was Honoka Kita, wife to Hibiki Kita. She was a tall and thin woman like someone had taken a wad of taffy and stretched it out, and easily stood a head taller than her husband. She a long face and tall nose to match, and wide lavender eyes that made look a bit like a bird, and had long, wavy, frizzy white hair that reached her lower back. She wore a pink (also formerly white) nightgown.

"I know, I know," Mr. Kita said as put down his phone and relaxed. "I just…I don't know, maybe if I read it enough times something will finally click, and I'll know what I'm doing wrong."

"You're not doing anything wrong," Honoka said as slid into bed. "Just keep at it and I know you'll get published, we both know your work is wonderful even if those publishers can't see it."

Mr. Kita sighed. "You're just saying that to make me feel better."

Honoka pouted. "Don't say that, you know I'd never lie to you about so important to you."

"You're right, I'm sorry," Mr. Kita said. He turned to his wife and smiled. People had always said Honoka was weird and odd-looking when they went to school together. One popular insult was to say she'd been the ghost in a horror movie that had jumped through the screen to the real world.

Mr. Kita had always said they were full of crap. To him, Honoka was the most beautiful woman in the world, no contest.

"It's okay, darling," Honoka said with a sweet tone. "But we should get to bed; we've both got work tomorrow."

"Alright, just got to take a leak," Mr. Kita said as stood up. "Be right back."

Soon enough, Mr. Kita had done his business and washed his hand. As he turned off the faucet, Mr. Kita found himself staring into the mirror, a look on his face that could only be called defeated. "You stupid, stupid, bastard," Mr. Kita said under his breath, trying desperately to keep his wife from hearing him. "What were, you thinking? That's right; you weren't. You should have just let the kid walk away and get on with his life." He put a hand on his head and gripped his hair so hard it hurt. "When are you going to stop fucking up and being a loser?"

Suddenly, Mr. Honda's words rang through his hard like an unwelcome alarm. _"But it's too late for you, it's too late for Sasaki and me, we're all Have-Nots, and nothing will change that."_

Mr. Kita sighed let go of his hair. He took one last look of himself in the mirror and wandered back to bed.

* * *

 **Well, that just happened…**

 **I can imagine some of you being confused right now, so let me explain a few things.**

 **Firstly, no, I am not trying to redeem Mr. Kita necessarily, he's still a creep and bastard who deserves what's coming to him next chapter. What I'm trying to do is show that there's more to him than what you originally saw.**

 **Secondly, nothing excuses what Mr. Kita has done in this fic up until now, providing context and explanation doesn't equate to excuses or forgiveness.**

 **Thirdly… I'll be honest the only reason I'm going this route is that I've become weirdly attached to Mr. Kita and during the development of The Healing Touch's plot I had few weird ideas for Mr. Kita's character and just decided to run with it, and now we're here.**

 **Fourthly, Mr. Kita won't suddenly become an important character who shows up on a regular basis, he will play another role in the story later on, but he'll pretty much disappear after the next chapter and until I need him.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Honestly, I was aiming to make this chapter around 3,000 to 4,000 word, but it ended up ballooning to around 6,000.**

 **I would love it if you leave your thoughts, feelings, and opinions in the reviews/comments, every time I get feedback it helps fuel the fanfiction machine.**

 **Take care, and I hope you all have a wonderful day.**


	9. Crash and Burn

The Healing Touch Chapter 9: Crash and Burn

By

Xpegasus

 **AN:**

 **So… it's been, what, three months since the last chapter…**

 **You know, I had originally planned for this chapter to come out before the end of February, but then the chapter started getting longer and longer and then Finals and, well, you get the idea.**

 **But I'm back now, but before we get started-**

 **HOLY HELL! So many comments/reviews last chapter.**

 **Thank you all so much for the great response. I read a lot of great comments about Mr. Kita and how people feel about him now.**

 **I'll admit, I'm not entirely happy with how this whole subplot with Mr. Kita turned out. It distracted from the story and made us take too long to get to UA. But I'm really happy, so many people enjoyed it. Don't worry; we're getting back on track to UA and the like next chapter!**

 **I hope you guys and gals will come to talk to me on Tumblr. My main is xpegasusuniverse, and I made a side blog dedicated to this fic called mhathehealingtouch, and my Twitter, JackJVilardi.**

 **Let's get on with the show.**

* * *

" _A NEW DAY IS HERE!"_

Izuku slowly opened a bleary eye at the sound of his All Might alarm clock.

" _A NEW DAY IS HERE!"_ it screamed again.

The green haired boy reached over and slammed the button before the alarm could go off again. Forcing himself to sit up, Izuku gave a great yawn and stretched before getting out of bed, shivering when his feet hit the hardwood floor. The smell of breakfast wafted through the air, enticing Izuku to get ready for the day. He could practically taste his mother's cooking and had to stop himself from drooling.

"Morning, Mom," Izuku said as he walked into the kitchen, the table already set with a variety of food. There were more traditional things like white rice, dried seaweed, fermented soybeans, miso soup, pickled vegetables, and four succulent pieces of grilled fish. A pot of green tea sat at the center of the table. As Inko worked away at the stove, Izuku could smell bacon, eggs, and pancakes. It took all his self-control not immediately to start wolfing down his food.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Inko said with a bright smile. "You can start eating. I'll sit down in a minute."

"Thanks, mom," Izuku said. With a quick "Thank you for the food," the green haired boy dug into his food, starting with a piece of yellow tail that practically melted in his mouth. "Mmmh! Hwo gwood." To Izuku, nothing could beat waking up to his mother's cooking. It was so good he'd forgotten not to talk with a mouthful of food.

Inko sighed but smiled at her son's enjoyment. 'I'll let it slide this time.' She set down a stack of pancakes, a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs, and a bowl of sliced fruit and yogurt.

"Did you sleep well?" Inko asked as she set down her breakfast; scrambled eggs, white rice, grilled pacific saury, fermented soybeans, and miso soup.

Izuku nodded vigorously, looking like a squirrel with his cheeks puffed out with food.

"That's good," she said smiling. As Izuku swallowed his mouthful of food, Inko's face morphed into a tight and pensive expression. "Izuku, I wanted to talk to you about, well, this whole thing with your teacher and what we're going to do."

With his chopsticks halfway to his mouth, Izuku stopped and stared at his mother in surprise. "Aren't we going to the school?" He slowly lowered the chopsticks back onto his plate.

"Of course we are, and we're going to give that teacher a piece of our minds," Inko said. "But what I mean is that you had a tough day yesterday, and there were a lot of emotions last night." She linked her hands together and her mouth curved into a small frown. "I'm just afraid of making things worse." Fear and panic tinged her voice as he continued. "If we say the wrong thing or do something that will upset the principal or-"

"Mom," Izuku said. Inko stopped and looked at her son; he reached over and gently squeezed her hand. "It's gonna be okay."

Realizing how panicked and riled up she'd gotten, Inko took a deep and breathe and relaxed. "Thank you, sweetheart. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I don't want to walk in high on emotions and do something stupid. So," she gave son a warm and comforting smile. "We're going to take the day off; you'll stay home from school today, and we'll go in together tomorrow. Is that okay?"

Izuku nodded. "I think that's a good idea."

"Thank you, sweetheart," Inko said. "Now my don't you finish your breakfast and then-"

"Thanks, mom!" Izuku exclaimed before digging back into his food with a vengeance. He was so engrossed in his meal; he didn't even notice his mother's scrunched up face.

'I don't know whether to be insulted he didn't let me finish or flattered that he loves my cooking,' she thought as she took a bite of eggs and saury. 'I'll let it slide this time, but you're not getting with that again young man.'

* * *

Mr. Kita stared up at the ceiling with a barren, dead-eyed expression, his mind like radio static. Izuku hadn't shown up that day, and Mr. Kita couldn't blame the kid. He kept replaying the scene in his mind; the moment he'd lashed out in panic and rage and backhanded Izuku across the face. Every time he replayed the events his mind, there were a million things he'd wished he'd done differently; chief among them was not slapping his student at all.

He glanced down at his desk. Right now he should be filling out paperwork and grading tests and papers, not mulling over his mistakes. Mr. Kita picked up a piece of paper and read it over. Then he read over it again. And once more. Again and again for a solid five minutes before letting out a defeated sigh and setting it back down. Guilt and shame gnawed at his insides like a parasite, sapping his strength and ability to work. 'When am I going to stop fucking up my life and everyone around me?' he thought as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You're awfully quiet today, Mr. Author," Mr. Honda taunted, his voice cutting through the quiet of the room. "What's wrong? Did another publisher refuse to publish that utter garbage your call a novel?" He played with a strand of curly orange hair, waiting for the (dyed) blond man's reaction.

"Could we just not do this today," Mr. Kita breathed, his voice dispassionate and flat. "I'm just not in the mood, okay?"

Mr. Honda scowled, irritated and confused by Mr. Kita's reaction (or rather, his lack of a reaction.) "What's his deal?" he asked Ms. Sasaki as she put a score of 91 on a test that deserved a 60.

"Not sure," she said languidly, lazily glancing over to Mr. Kita. Suddenly, her lips curled into a small and dangerous smile. "But I can find out." She got up and stalked over to Mr. Kita's desk.

"What's on your mind, Kita?" she asked in a honeyed voice.

"Nothing," Mr. Kita said, not even looking up from his desk.

"Come on, I know something's eating you," she said, leaning forward. "The least you can do is look me in the eye when you tell me off."

"Uhg," he said tonelessly and looked up at Ms. Sasaki. "I'm just tired, and I don't have the energy to get into an argument with you or Honda today. Can you two please, just for today, leave me be?"

But Ms. Sasaki didn't say anything; she stared at Mr. Kita with a look of shock and her wide, glowing, pink eyes.

'Wait, glowing?' Mr. Kita thought, realization dawning on his face.

"What the hell, you bitch?!" he yelled, turning away from his colleague and covering his eyes. "You can't just use your Quirk on me like that!"

"You idiot," Ms. Sasaki said, her voice low and dangerous. Mr. Kita looked back at her and had to stifle a gasp. A deep scowl marred Ms. Sasaki's face, her gaze sharp and cold like a pair of needles. "Honda," she said, whipping around to look at the orange haired teacher. "The three of us are going to the roof; we need to talk."

"What the hell are-" Mr. Kita didn't have the chance to finish what he was saying as Ms. Sasaki grabbed him by the arm and forced him through the door. Mr. Honda followed behind with a perplexed look on his face. Reaching the roof, Ms. Sasaki slammed the door behind them and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Alright, why the hell are we up here?" Mr. Honda asked with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. "It's chilly." His hair started to glow softly and radiate heat, warming his head against the cold.

"It's because this idiot," Ms. Sasaki said, jabbing a finger in Mr. Kita's chest. "Thought it was a good idea to slap that Midoriya kid in the face!"

"What!" Mr. Kita exclaimed. "H-how do you- I mean- what are you talking about?"

Her eyes narrowed and sent a shiver down Mr. Kita's spine. "I read your mind when you looked me in the eyes, dumbass."

Mr. Kita's eyes widen with realization. He'd always known Ms. Sasaki's Quirk was something involving her eyes, but never in his life did he imagine she had something like mind reading. "I, uh, fine! I admit it, I slapped Midoriya, but why would you fuckers care?!" He tried to sound confident, but his voice betrayed him as it shook with worry.

"Because that's not the only thing I saw," Ms. Sasaki yelled. "Apparently, the little bastard overheard our little talk and got a good earful of what Honda and I do!"

"What…" Mr. Honda said softly, eyes wide. Suddenly, his face twisted with ugly rage and the glow of his hair brightened. "WHAT! What the hell is wrong with you!?" Mr. Honda grabbed Mr. Kita by his tie and pulled close enough to feel the heat coming from Mr. Honda's orange hair and breath.

"Let go. Let go. Let go!" Mr. Kita wheezed as his tie wrapped around his throat like a constrictor. Mr. Honda let go and left the man gasping for breath. "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?"

"You're in no position to talk back, blondie," Ms. Sasaki snapped. "Because of you, there's a chance Midoriya will squeal to Principal Narukami. If he finds out and investigates then Honda and I will be up to our eyeballs in shit!" Hatred and rage burned in her eyes, boring into Mr. Kita's soul like red hot knives. "I'm not going to jail because of your screw up."

"God damn it," Mr. Honda breathed, pinching the bridge of his nose as his hair stopped glowing. "I need a smoke." He walked over to the rooftop's door and crouched down next to it. Mr. Kita stared at him in confusion as Mr. Honda pulled out a loose tile and then grabbed a canary yellow lockbox with a handle on top. "You want a smoke, Sasaki?" Mr. Honda asked as he came back and unlocked the box.

"Sure, why not," Ms. Sasaki said. Mr. Honda pulled out a pack of cigarettes labeled "Blue Oni" and handed it to her along with a lighter, and pulled out a pack labeled "Red Oni" for himself.

"You keep cigarettes on campus?" Mr. Kita asked.

"Of course not. These aren't mine," Mr. Honda said between puffs of his cigarette. "These belong to that Yokoyama kid in your homeroom. The kid nabs this stuff from his parents' drugstore and sells them to the other students. I caught him up here one day and promised to keep my mouth shut if he gave me a cut of the profits and let me snag some of his merchandise when I'm in the mood." He took a long drag of his cigarette and looked Mr. Kita dead in the eye. "So, what are you going to do to fix this?"

Mr. Kita narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow. "I'm sorry. What?"

"This whole shit show is your fault," Ms. Sasaki said. "So it's your job to fix it."

Mr. Kita scowled. "I'm not the one taking bribes and letting kids sell cigarettes on campus."

"Don't act like you're innocent here," Mr. Honda said. "If the Principal finds out about what you did, you'll be in some pretty deep shit yourself."

"So, that begs the question," Ms. Sasaki said before taking a long drag. She walked up to Mr. Kita and blew a cloud of smoke in his face, burning his eyes, nose, and throat like acid and sending him into a coughing fit. "How do you plan on fixing this?"

As he cleared the smoke from his eyes and nose, Mr. Kita couldn't but agree with Mr. Honda and Ms. Sasaki on some level. Though he loathed admitting it and wouldn't ever tell them. If Izuku did go to the principal and report them, Mr. Kita had no doubt he'd be fired. Even though he highly doubted the timid boy would report him, Mr. Kita couldn't take that risk. And if he did nothing, he was sure there'd be hell to pay from Mr. Honda and Ms. Sasaki.

"Alright, fine," Mr. Kita said even as guilt clawed at his insides. "I'll take care of it." He couldn't believe he was doing, throwing Izuku under the bus like this. What would his precious Honoka think if she ever found out?

'I'm a monster,' Mr. Kita thought as he stared down at the yellow lockbox, a plan starting to form in his head.

However, unknown to any of the teachers, their conversation was being listened to. Behind the door to the roof, open just a crack, sat Katsuki Bakugo. As the teachers started to finish up, the boy quickly made his way back to his classroom — the teachers suspecting nothing.

* * *

As was typical of a middle schooler with the day off from school, Izuku was currently busy watching TV while his mother made lunch.

However, unlike the typical middle schooler, Izuku was watching a new documentary on the origin of Quirks instead of an anime or a TV drama. He was also working out.

Instead of sitting on the couch like a normal person, Izuku had his used newfound muscles to push it, and the coffee table out of the way make way for a workout mat and his weights. As a woman voiced over images of the CGI DNA models and family trees on the TV, Izuku was busy lifting dumbbells and doing lunges while taking in everything the documentary was saying.

" _One popular hypothesis is the idea that a virus that originated in rats is what first caused Quirks to first develop in humans,"_ the narrator said as the screen shifted to images of lab rats. _"The hypothesis states that after jumping the species barrier from rodent to human, the virus permanently altered the DNA of its host, causing them to develop Quirks. There is some disagreement as to whether Quirks formed in the original hosts or just their children._

 _While there is no concrete scientific evidence to support the Quirk Virus Hypothesis, or the Rat Hypothesis as some call it, there are scientists who believe the hypothesis is more than wild speculation."_ The screen shifted to an image of three people, an African-American man, a Caucasian woman, and an Asian man. _"We spoke with three of the world's top Quirkologists to get their opinions of the QVH. Doctor Warren Wright from Harvard University; Doctor Agnes Kassmeyer from the University of Munich; and Doctor Tao Fan from National Taiwan University."_

As the documentary started to play Dr. Wright's interview, Izuku heard his phone ping. 'A text?' Izuku thought as he glanced down at his phone on the coffee table. 'Who could be texting me now?' He set down his weights and paused the TV. When he picked up his phone, Izuku was surprised to see a text from Toshinori.

 **[Mr. Yagi]**

 **Young Midoriya, how are you today?**

 **I hope I'm not disturbing you, but I was worried about yesterday**

 **It's not often you feel unwell enough to skip training**

 **Are you feeling butter?**

 ***better**

'Oh, that's right, I never told Yagi why I couldn't come to training,' Izuku thought. 'He probably thinks I've got the flu or something.'

 **[Izuku]**

 **Hey there, Yagi, sorry about yesterday**

 **I'm feeling better, but my mom told me to take the day off from school**

 **[Mr. Yagi]**

 **Glad to hear that!**

 **Can you make it to training today?**

 **[Izuku]**

 **Yup**

 **I'll see you down at Dagobah**

"Izuku," Inko called. "Lunch is ready."

"Coming mom," Izuku said.

 **[Izuku]**

 **Gotta go, lunchtime**

 **Yum**

 **SYL Yagi**

 **[Mr. Yagi]**

 **Have good lunch, young Midoriya**

 **By the way, what does syl mean?**

Unfortunately, Toshinori would have to wait for his answer as Izuku had already run off to eat lunch.

* * *

The TV blared inside the Bakugo household's living room as Katsuki laid on the couch watching his favorite anime, _Wild Rebellion._ The anime and the original manga was about a group of rebellious teenagers who formed a biker gang named The Wolf Pack.

Even as he tried to enjoy watching the main character smash a flunkey's face in with a metal baseball bat, he the boy had a scowl on his face. Katsuki couldn't get what he'd overheard, both yesterday and today, out of his head. No matter what he did, study, watch TV, brainstorm costume ideas, there was this persistent little voice at the back of his mind, clawing itself out of whatever dark hole Katsuki had forced it down to try and make its way to the front. It was getting fucking annoying.

"Hey, the hell's wrong with you?" a sharp voice asked. Katsuki glanced up to see his mother standing behind the couch.

"For starters, some dumb bitch is interrupting my show," he spat.

"Oi! Don't say shit like that," Mitsuki shouted. "I'm asking because I'm concerned. You've been in a weird mood since yesterday, a lot bitchier than usual."

"I ain't 'bitchy,' you old hag!"

Mitsuki scowled. "Why you little-"

"Will you two cut it out?!" Masaru shouted from the kitchen. "Can you two ever interact like a normal mother and son?"

"Sorry, honey."

"Sorry, dad."

Masaru sighed. "But your mom's right, Katsuki; you've been acting odd since you got home yesterday. Is everything alright?"

"It's nothing," Katsuki blurted out.

"Bullshit! 'Nothing' wouldn't having you scowling at your favorite show," Mitsuki said she forced herself onto the couch. "You can talk to us about whatever's going on in your life; it's our job to make sure you're okay."

'I don't need your fucking pity,' Katsuki thought. 'I'm gonna be the Number 1 Hero. I don't need to rely on anyone.' As he tried to concentrate on the climactic fight between the main character and the rival gang leader, his parents' words started banging at his mental barricades. He didn't know why this was bothering him so much. Sure, Izuku hadn't actually been kissing their homeroom teacher's ass, and the green-haired boy was going to potentially get framed for a crime so Mr. Kita could cover his ass, but why did that matter? In Katsuki's eyes, Izuku was still the manipulative, condescending, cowardly little bastard he'd always been. Whatever happened to him was just karma coming to bite him in the ass.

…right?

'Stop thinking about it!' Katsuki thought. 'I've got no reason to get involved! Deku probably brought this on himself.'

But if that was true, why did he follow the teachers up to the roof and eavesdrop on their conversation? And he knew Mr. Kita was a manipulative bastard since the first time he tried to invite Katsuki to have lunch with him.

'Damn it,' Katsuki thought as he pinched the bridge of his nose. 'My head's all messed up; I can't think straight.' He glanced over at his mother. 'Maybe mom and dad could help me figure this shit all out. But I can't tell about it, or they'd freak.' Suddenly, an idea popped in Katsuki's head.

"Alright, fine, I'll tell what's been bothering me," Katsuki said.

"Finally!" Mitsuki exclaimed as she grabbed her son's wrist and brought him to the kitchen table where Masaru was sitting. "Tell us what's going."

"Yeah, yeah," Katsuki said. "So ya knew that manga I read, _Wild Rebellion_?" His parents nodded. "Well, something's been bugging me for a while. The main character, Yuudai, fucking hates this guy named Genma; he's the main villain of the whole series and Yuudai's rival. In Volume 21 Genma gets accused of breaking the Biker Code of Honor, so his gangs decide to kick him out and put his second-in-command in charge."

"Okay, but what does this have to do with anything?" Masaru asked.

"I'm getting to that!" Katsuki barked. "Anyway, when Yuudai finds out Genma didn't do it he runs around playing detective to prove it and saves Genma's ass."

"Okay, what the hell's the problem?" Mitsuki asked.

"I don't get it! Yuudai and Genma fucking hate each other's guts, and the next time they met up they beat each other black and blue. If Yuudai had just sat back and did nothing, then his worst enemy would've been out of his hair for good. Why the hell would you save someone you hate!?" Katsuki went slack in his chair, out of breath. "Plus, Genma's a total tool, he didn't fucking deserve to get his ass saved."

"That's it? You been acting all weird cause of a manga?" Mitsuki asked. "Seems like a stupid thing to get upset over."

"Really?" Masaru said, pointing a raised eyebrow at his wife. "I seem to remember a certain someone who cried for five hours after the finale of her favorite anime and didn't leave her college dorm for the next week." Mitsuki's face went red as a tomato and Katsuki started cackling.

"SHUT UP, BRAT!" Mitsuki yelled. Katsuki reeled in his laughter but still gave his mother a rather smug, self-satisfied grin. "Anyway, what's your problem with this Yuuma-"

"Yuudai."

"-saving this Gendo-"

"Genma."

"-guy's ass? Was it out of character for him or something?"

Katsuki sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I dunno, I just don't understand why he'd go to the trouble of clearin' Genma's name when Yuudai knows it'll just come back to bite him in the ass."

"I think I have an idea," Masaru said. "Katsuki, you said this Genma character was falsely accused, right?" His son nodded. "Well, maybe that's the reason. Even though Yuudai hated him, he couldn't stand by and let someone be charged with a crime they didn't commit. Perhaps he didn't _deserve_ to be saved, but if he didn't do it, then he didn't _deserve_ to be punished."

Katsuki stared at his father and thought for a moment. "So what you're saying is that if Genma is going to fail, if he's going to fall not get back up, it should be because of his actions."

Masaru nodded. "I suppose that's one way to put it."

"Makes sense," Mitsuki said. "If something like happened to me, I'd want someone to come and save even if it was someone I freaking hated." Her brow furrowed. "Even if it was that bitch, Shirata."

"You're still upset about her? It's been twenty years since you last saw each other," Masaru bemoaned.

"Hell yeah, I'm still upset! That bitch stole my science fair project, my makeup, and she always bought all the extra spicy curry bread at lunch because she knew it was my favorite and wanted to spite me!" Mitsuki growled. "Anyway, did this help, Katsuki?"

"Yeah, I guess it did," he said with an unreadable expression on the boy's face. Katsuki didn't like lying, but he couldn't tell his parents about what he'd overheard. And while he may have exaggerated how much that certain storyline from _Wild Rebellion_ had bothered him, it was too good an opportunity to pass up. "Thanks, I think my head's clear now." Katsuki got up and walked towards the couch, but stopped halfway there. "Oh, mom, one more thing."

"Yeah?" Mitsuki asked. Suddenly, Katsuki turned around with the biggest shit eating grin he could muster.

"Mind telling me what anime made you cry like a bitch?" Katsuki cackled.

"You little brat!" Mitsuki as jumped out of her chair. " _Tsubasa and the Thousand Paper Cranes_ is a fucking masterpiece, and I dare you to try and watch it without shedding a tear!"

"Bring it on, you old hag!" Katsuki said with a smirk. "I bet I can make it through the whole show with dry eyes!"

Masaru sighed, but couldn't help but smile. His was a unique family, others would probably (and did) call them dysfunctional, but he loved them more than anything — even his wife and son's rather unorthodox way of bonding. "Maybe save that for the weekend. It's a school night, and we still need to have dinner."

"You're on!" Katsuki and Mitsuki yelled, identical smirks on their faces.

* * *

As the chilly October wind nipped at his face and the gentle, rhythmic sound of waves crashing against the beach, Toshinori stood gazing at the horizon, waiting for his protégé. A worried look marred the blond man's face as he glanced at the time on his phone. It was an incredibly rare occurrence for Izuku to be late for training; he never missed it. Or rather, he had never missed a day of training until yesterday.

Toshinori knew that whatever had made Izuku miss training must have been serious, but the boy had been frustratingly tight-lipped about it. 'Perhaps he's sick,' he thought with a grimace. 'If he is, I hope Young Midoriya isn't forcing himself to come. Trying to train while you're ill is never a good idea.'

Suddenly, he was brought of his thoughts by the sound of approaching footsteps. "Yagi, over here," Izuku said with a wave as he made his way to his mentor. "How are you?"

"I'm well, Young Midoriya," Toshinori said with a smile. "What about yourself? Are you feeling better? I don't want you pushing yourself if you're ill."

"Oh, uh, I'm fine," Izuku blurted out with a nervous laugh. Toshinori's lips pressed into a thin line as he gave the boy a onceover. "Nothing's wrong with me. I wasn't even sick."

"You weren't?" Toshinori asked in surprise. "Then why didn't you show up?"

"I, uhm, well, the thing is…" Izuku mumbled as squirmed under his mentor's gaze. "I was just…upset. I was feeling down, and I needed to take the day off."

Toshinori's eyes narrowed. "Is there something you're not telling me?" Izuku forced out a laugh as bullets of sweat ran down his face despite the chill. "Young Midoriya," the man said, his voice stern yet kind.

The green haired boy sighed. "Yeah, you got. I guess I don't have a reason to hide it." His mouth turned up in an apprehensive grin. "Just let finish before you jump in, okay." And so, Izuku told his mentor exactly what he'd told his mother the night before. As he spoke, Toshinori's face shifted into surprise, shock, horror, and by the end of Izuku's explanation, righteous fury.

"So, yeah, that's the whole story," Izuku said as he rubbed the back of his head. "But don't worry, my mom and I are going to the school tomorrow to tell the principal, so it's fine."

"THAT HORRIBLE BASTARD!" Toshinori screamed. Izuku nearly leaped out of his skin at his mentor's outburst. "What kind of monster would do something like that?! Hitting a child, much less one under his care who he's supposed to guide and nurture!" The blond man's face was a terrifying mask of fury and rage that sent shivers down his protégé's spine. "And those other two! They're scumbags, manipulative parasites! FUCK THEM!" At the end of his ranting, Toshinori was out of breath and panting as if he'd just run a marathon. "Are you okay, Young Midoriya?"

"Uh, I'm fine, I guess," Izuku said. "You kind of freaked me out."

"I'm so sorry you were forced to endure such horrible treatment," Toshinori said. "If there's anything I can do to help, just ask."

"No really, I'm alright," Izuku said almost pleading, trying to stop his mentor from doing something rash. "My mom and I are going to take care of it, but thanks for the offer."

Toshinori frown but let out a defeated sigh. "Alright, fine. I'm just worried about you is all! If you're sure it's fine, then let's stop wasting time and get back to training!"

"Okay! Let's go!"

And so, the two went about their training. As the hours went by and Izuku carried one piece of junk after another off the beach under Toshinori's diligent instruction. By the end of that day's training, Izuku was drenched in sweat with half-a-dozen energy bar wrappers stuffed in his pockets. He stood proud at the progress he'd made that day, panting slightly as his mentor looked on in pride.

"Good work today, my boy," Toshinori said. "I hope everything goes well for you and your mother tomorrow."

"Thanks, Yagi," Izuku exclaimed with a tired grin. "Don't worry; I'm sure it'll all work out."

"Alright then, now go home and get some rest," the blond man said with a small smile. Mentor and student said their goodbyes and Izuku ran off towards the train station, giving Toshinori one last wave before disappearing.

Toshinori stood there for a moment, a chilling gust of mind buffeted his face as his smile turned into an uneasy frown. Apprehension and fear coiled in the pit of his stomach (or it would have if he had a stomach; it was more in his general lower abdominal area) as stood on the cold beach, the sun long since disappeared beneath the horizon. 'I know it's not my place to meddle in Young Midoriya's personal affairs, but I can't help but feel like he's walking into a trap.' Some might call this thought paranoid or ludicrous, but after decades of serving as a Pro Hero, the man had developed a sort of sixth sense when it came to traps. It was hard to describe, even to other Heroes who had developed their own sensitivities to this sort of thing. Toshinori hadn't said anything during their train so as not to worry Izuku, but he couldn't shake this strange feeling of looming dread.

Jumping into his pickup truck that packed to the brim with junk and turning on the heat, the blond man sat and pondered his options. 'It wouldn't be right to simply go to his school and start lobbying accusations at his teacher. Officially, I'm just his employer, and my involvement could make things worse.' Toshinori stroked his bony chin and scowled. 'But I can't ignore this feeling. There's got to be something I can do.'

Suddenly, the perfect idea struck. 'That's it!' Toshinori thought with a grin. 'I may not be able to get involved, but I know someone who can.' He pulled out his phone and looked through his contacts to find the numbers he was looking for.

"Come on, come on, pick up, pick up," Toshinori muttered as the phone rang.

" _Hello, All Might,"_ a voice came from the other side. _"Look, I'd love to talk, but I'm neck deep in paperwork right now. Can we talk later?"_

"I would if I could, but it's a rather urgent matter," Toshinori said. "There's something I need you to do for me."

The man at the end of the call sighed. _"Okay, tell what's going on, and I'll see what I can do."_

"Thank you so much. Have you ever heard of Aldera Junior High?"

" _No. Why?"_

Toshinori went on to explain everything Izuku had told, struggling to keep his emotions in check as he did.

" _You're right, that does sound serious,"_ the man said. _"This kind of thing usually doesn't fall under my jurisdiction, but I'll check it out."_

"You will?!" Toshinori exclaimed. "Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me."

" _It's no problem, All Might. I've got an early morning meeting tomorrow, but I think we'll finish it up pretty fast and I can get to Aldera when classes start."_

"Alright, I'll leave this in your capable hands," Toshinori said. "Again, thank you so much for doing this, Tsukauchi."

" _You're welcome, but I do need to finish this paperwork. We'll talk later."_

* * *

"Gosh darn it," Inko said with a pained look on her face as she struggled to walk in a pair of heels. "I don't remember this being so difficult."

"Well, it's been a while since you've worn them," Izuku said as he took a lint roller to his school uniform. "But I've gotta ask, is this necessary?" The boy looked at his mother and was still astounded by how professional she looked. Inko was dressed in a forest green blouse with a matching pencil skirt and black stockings. She'd accessorized with a black purse strung over her shoulder and a pair of silver and jade stud earrings. Her hair was pulled back into a professional bun, and while Izuku had rarely seen his mother wear makeup, today she'd decided to put on mascara, black eyeliner, Apricot eyeshadow, and soft pink lipstick. To top the ensemble off, she'd pulled out a pair of black 4-inch heels.

"In situations like this, it's important to make a strong impression and appear professional," she said as she walked over to her son, nearly tripping on the way. "Besides, I'm shorter than you, sweetheart; I need the extra height for the confidence boost." Her cheeks turned pink without makeup, and Izuku let out a small laugh. "Don't laugh," she said with a pout.

"Sorry mom," Izuku said. "But shouldn't we get going?"

"In a minute," Inko said as she had him sit so she could run her fingers through her son's hair. "I want to try to get your hair under control." As soon as she flattened a part of his hair, it sprang back up as if nothing had happened. She sighed but found herself smiling despite her frustration. "You just had to get your father's hair, didn't you? I swear, it takes a jar of hair gel and two hours of brushing to make his hair stay down."

'Dad and I have the same kind of hair?' Izuku thought as his mother tried and failed to get his hair to stay down. 'Guess it's been so long I kind of forgot.'

"Hey, mom," he said, catching Inko's attention. "I appreciate the thought, but I think you're wasting your time. Remember Kindergarten picture day?"

Inko groaned and had to stop herself from facepalming. "Don't remind me. I broke three hairbrushes trying to style your hair. You wouldn't let me use any gel because it 'smelled icky.'" Mother and son shared a laugh at the memory. "Alright, we'll get going."

As soon as Izuku stood up, Inko's phone started ringing. She pulled it out of her purse and raised an eyebrow at the unknown number. "Hello," she said cautiously as she answered.

" _Hello, is this Mrs. Inko Midoriya,"_ a squeaky, cheery voice said.

"Uhm, yes, that's me. Who are you?"

" _My name's Ai Minami; I'm Principal Narukami's secretary. I'm calling because the principal wants to speak with you regarding your son."_

"My son?" Inko asked in surprise. "What's this about?"

" _I'm sorry ma'am, but I'm not allowed to talk about it over the phone. I can assure you it's a very important matter and Principal Narukami needs you and your son to come in right away if you can."_

"Uh, of course," Inko said apprehensively. "Actually, Izuku and I were-"

" _Perfect,"_ Ms. Minami exclaimed. _"I'll tell Principal Narukami that's you're coming in. We'll see you soon. Bye."_ She hung before Inko had a chance to process what had just happened.

"Who was that?" Izuku asked.

"The Principal's secretary…apparently," Inko said. "I didn't know principals had secretaries. Anyway, the principal wants us to come in and talk, but she didn't say why."

"Huh, that's weird," Izuku said as he stroked his chin. "I mean, we were going anyway, so I guess it's not a big deal."

"It's still strange, but at least he'll be expecting us," Inko said. She grabbed her son's arms and started walking towards the door. "No time to waste I suppose."

"Okay, but why exactly are you holding onto my arm?" Izuku asked nervously.

Inko blushed. "I need you to hold me up while I walk, or I'll ending falling over in these heels."

As mother and son walked out the door towards the school, Izuku laughed, and Inko gave him a mock scolding. Soon enough, the two arrived at Aldera Junior High and made their way to the principal's office.

Outside the door at a desk covered in office supplies and cute knick-knacks sat a young woman. She had curly brown hair done up in a pair of buns on either side of her head and blue eyes behind pink cat eye glasses. The lady wore a bright pink sweater with an image of Hello Kitty on the front and cotton candy blue nails with pink polka dots.

"Hello there," the woman said in a bright and squeaky voice. "You must be the Midoriyas. It's nice to meet you." She extended her hand.

"It's nice to meet you too," Inko said as she tentatively shook the woman's hand. "And you must be Ms. Minami."

"That's me," she said. "We're so glad you could come in on such short notice, I'll tell the Principal you're here." Ms. Minami pressed a button a phone covered in cute animal stickers. "Principal Narukami, the Midoriyas are here to see you."

" _Thank you, Ms. Minami,"_ the principal said. _"Please send them in."_

"Alright then," Ms. Minami said, taking her hand off the phone. She gestured for Inko and Izuku to go in. When mother and son entered the room, the first thing they noticed was the décor. Every wall was covered in pictures of birds; photographs, posters, wall scrolls, and even a few paintings, all of them were of birds of all different shapes and sizes.

The second thing they noticed was the principal himself…and the bird perched on his shoulder. Principal Goro Narukami was a plump older man in his early 60s with short, spiky salt and pepper hair with a matching beard and mustache. He had warm yellow eyes behind a pair of square glasses perched on a hooked nose. He wore a gray and black sweater vest over a white dress shirt. Strangest of all was the bird casually sitting on the principal's shoulder, a grey parrot with eyes the same color as Principal Narukami's.

Finally, the third thing Izuku and Inko noticed was Mr. Kita, who was standing next to the principal's desk with a hard, neutral expression on his face.

"Uh, what's going on?" Izuku asked, off-put by his teacher's presence. He glanced over to his mother and noticed she'd tensed upon seeing Mr. Kita.

"Mrs. Midoriya, I'm glad you and your son could make it," Principal Narukami said, his voice soft and paternal. "I know this is very sudden, but if you could take a seat, I'd like to explain why I asked you here."

Izuku stood in the doorway, unsure of what to do. He glanced at his mother and saw the tight and pensive look on her face. She looked back at him and nodded, signaling that they should do as the principal asked. They sat down in the pair of chairs in front of the principal's desk, both still brimming with nerves, unsure of what was happening.

An awkward silence filled the air as the Midoriyas, and Principal Narukami stared at each other. Izuku glanced up at Mr. Kita, the teacher's eyes briefly flashed to the green haired boy before looking away; the man's face never changing from the staunch neutral expression he'd constructed. He looked back at the principal, but his eyes wandered the parrot preening itself on the man's shoulder.

"That's a very nice bird," Izuku said, his voice tense.

"Oh, thank you," Principal Narukami said as he reached up to give the bird a scratch. "This is Bongo, my African Grey. He's a service animal who helps me with my anxiety."

"I'm Bongo, I'm Bongo," the parrot said, happily flapping his wings. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Izuku said, a little less nervous now.

"Excuse me," Inko said, trying to hide her nerves as she glanced between Mr. Kita and the principal. "You do have a very nice bird, but I'd like to know why exactly we're here."

Principal Narukami sighed, a sad look washed across his face. "Right, I suppose there's no use beating around the bush." He reached into a drawer and brought out two things, a packet of Red Oni cigarettes and plastic zip bag filled with various pills. "Mrs. Midoriya, these items were found in your son's desk yesterday."

"What?" Inko asked, stunned, her eyes wide with shock. Izuku gaped at the principal's words, silently looking between him and Mr. Kita.

"I know this must be difficult to hear," Principal Narukami said. "But rest assured, I didn't bring you here to punish your son. I understand how difficult life can before young people nowadays, how they can feel hopeless and turn to drugs in times of crisis. We want to try and help him and find the root of-"

"What the hell!" Inko screamed as leaped out of her chair. "What the hell are you talking about!?"

"M-Mrs. Midoriya," Principal Narukami said, taken aback by her outburst. "I understand this must be difficult to hear, but-"

"Shut up! Just. Shut up!" Inko was on the verge of tears, struggling to keep her composer as her voice. "My son would never- never has- done drugs or smoke or any of that crap!" She gripped her purse string with white knuckles, desperate to try and maintain some semblance of composure. "I don't know what the hell is going on-" She suddenly froze. Inko turned her head to look at Mr. Kita whose posture was still hard and neutral, but the man's eyes danced with panic. "You, it was you wasn't it?"

"I'm sorry. What?" Principal Narukami asked.

"I don't know what she's talking about," Mr. Kita said, panic tinging his voice.

"Don't lie to me, you bastard," Inko said. "Izuku told me everything; you assaulted him, and now you're trying to make him look like some untrustworthy delinquent."

"I-it's true," Izuku exclaimed, finally jumping in. "He slapped me, and I've never seen that stuff before in my life."

Principal Narukami stared at them with wide, shocked eyes. "Mr. Kita, what the devil is going on!?"

"Don't look at me," the teacher said. "I don't have a clue what they're talking about." He took a breath to try and steady himself before speaking again. "Look, I think she's just panicking and trying to keep her son safe."

"No, I won't let do this," Inko said, anger and panic rising in her voice. "You planted that stuff in Izuku's desk, didn't you? You're trying to cover up what you did and save yourself."

Mr. Kita scowled. "Actually, a student found those while cleaning yesterday. He brought them to Principal Narukami. I had nothing to do with it. I'm here because I'm your homeroom teacher."

Izuku and his mother went silent, unsure of what to do next. Inko was sure that whatever advantage her professional appearance had initially provided was gone. She brought a hand to her cheek and found that her makeup had begun to run.

"Okay, I think we should all calm down," Principal Narukami said as Bongo spoke calming word into his ear. "I don't what on Earth is going on, but this-"

" _Principal Narukami,"_ Ms. Minami's voice came from the intercom. _"I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, but there's a student here that needs to talk to talk to you."_

'Can I for once finish what I'm trying to say,' the principal thought.

"Thank you, Ms. Minami," he said. "But I really can't see them right now."

" _That's what I've been trying to tell him, but he won't listen. I was hoping you could tell him-"_

" _God damn it, just let me in, Sweater bitch!"_ a new, very angry voice came from the intercom.

" _I told you to stop calling me that! And I can't let you in; this a very private meeting- hey, where are you going?"_

The occupants of the room turned to towards the sound of loud footsteps approaching the doors and jumped back when it was kicked open, revealing a familiar loud and angry blond boy.

"Bakugo," Principal Narukami said. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Katsuki, what are you doing here?" Inko asked.

"Kacchan, what the heck?" Izuku asked.

"Yokoyama!" Mr. Kita exclaimed.

"Yokoyama?" Izuku looked over Bakugo again and gasped when he saw the boy had a death grip on Yokoyama's marble cake hair. The dual-haired boy was on the verge of tears as Bakugo dragged him into Principal Narukami's office and slammed the door behind him.

"Oh my god! Please let me go!" Yokoyama cried. "I don't know what I did to make you mad, but I'm sorry!"

"This ain't about me, Checkers," Bakugo said before throwing Yokoyama to the floor. "You're gonna tell these guys what you did, or else I'm gonna beat the crap out of you."

"What the fuck are you talking-" Yokoyama started before looking up to see where he was and who was in the room with them. "Save me! Please save me!" He said as crawled across the floor to grab on to Mr. Kita's leg. "He's a lunatic, a monster!"

"Katsuki Bakugo, what the hell is going on?" Principal Narukami yelled as he stood up from his chair.

"Look, I don't know what the fuck this fake-ass blond has been telling you," Bakugo said, pointing an accusatory finger at Mr. Kita. "But it's all a bunch of horse-crap and Checkers here is his little accomplice."

"What the- Wait? How do you know I dye my hair!?" Mr. Kita shouted.

" _Principal Narukami!"_ Ms. Minami's voice came from the intercom, panicked and scattered. _"I'm very to disturb you, but-"_

"Not now, Ms. Minami!" the principal yelled, absolutely overwhelmed by what was happening. "Whatever it is I'll deal with it later!"

" _But sir, there's a-"_

"Everybody freeze!" a new voice shouted as its owner kicked the door open. Everybody turned to see a man in a beige trench coat and hat standing in the doorway holding a baton and a police badge.

" _There's a police officer here, Principal Narukami,"_ Ms. Minami said weakly.

"You called the police!" Inko and Izuku shouted, turning back to the principal.

"I didn't! I have no idea-"

"Who the fuck the fuck are you!?" Bakugo shouted.

The whole room devolved into a cacophony of shouting and crying with accusations being throw left, right, and center. No one could understand what anyone else was saying. It seemed there was no end in sight, until-

"ENOUGH!" Principal Narukami yelled at the top of his lungs. He snapped his fingers and the sound cut through the air like a knife. Everyone else went deathly silent; the only sound was the principal's heavy breathing as he tried to calm down as Bongo spoke soothing words into his ear.

Izuku looked around the room, unsure of what had just happened. He opened his mouth to speak, but his eyes widened when no sound came out. The boy looked over to Bakugo and saw the blond boy's mouth was open in a scream that never came.

"Okay, all of you are going to listen to me," Principal Narukami said, his face hard as stone and voice devoid of its former warmth. "I have just used my Quirk to take away all your voices, and in a moment I'll give them back to you. And when I do, this is what will happen; first, you," he pointed to the police officer. "Will tell us who you are and why you're here. Then the Midoriyas will speak, then Bakugo, then Yokoyama, and finally Mr. Kita. Is that understood?"

Everyone else nodded, looking at the principal with a varying amount of fear in their eyes.

Principal Narukami breathed a sigh of relief. "Good." He snapped his fingers, and everyone felt their voices return. "Sorry about that. Now, Mr. Police Officer, would you please introduce yourself?"

"Of course," he said. "My name is Naomasa Tsukauchi; I'm a police detective. I received an anonymous tip about a teacher physically abusing a student." He looked back at the still open and closed it before giving a sheepish, apologetic smile. "Sorry about barging in like that, when I heard the screaming my instincts kicked in."

"A pleasure to meet you. I am Goro Narukami, principal of Alder Junior High. And it's quite alright, it must have sounded like a fight was going on in here," Principal Narukami said as he looked at the door behind Detective Tsukauchi. He grimaced as he noticed it wasn't quite closing properly.

"It did, it did," Bongo said. "I thought someone was going to get hurt."

"Uhm, okay," the detective said, staring at the bird with a slightly perplexed expression. "I had hoped to speak with you privately, but given the situation, I think it would be a good idea if I stuck around and observed."

"Of course, in fact, I would greatly appreciate it if you stay to help us parse what the devil is going on," Principal Narukami said.

"Thank you, thank you," Bongo said, happily flapping his wings.

"Alright," Detective Tsukauchi said as he pulled out a notepad. "Firstly I'd like to get everybody's names." He turned to look at Izuku.

"Oh, right," the green haired boy said. "I'm Izuku Midoriya."

"And I'm his mother, Inko Midoriya," she said.

Detective Tsukauchi nodded and turned to Bakugo.

"Tch, the name's Katsuki Bakugo," the explosive blond boy said. "That's spelled with the Kanji 'to win' and 'explosion,' Trench coat."

The detective narrowed his eyes yet said nothing before turning to Mr. Kita and Yokoyama, who was still clutching his teacher's leg. "Young man, could you please get up off the floor?"

The black and white haired boy reluctantly let go of Mr. Kita's leg and stood up. "I'm Shin Yokoyama, and WHY HAVEN'T YOU ARRESTED THIS LUNATIC ALREADY?!" Yokoyama screamed, pointing a finger a Bakugo. "He's lunatic! A monster! He attacked me and-"

"Quiet!" Bongo yelled, jumping off the principal's shoulder and landing on the desk.

Yokoyama stared at the bird with fear in his eyes. "But I-"

"Shut up! Shut up!" the parrot yelled, angrily flapping his wings. "Wait your turn." Yokoyama rather pathetically backed away and shut his mouth. Satisfied, Bongo hopped back onto his owner's shoulder.

"Alright, guess that leaves me," Mr. Kita said before taking a large gulp of air and turning to Tsukauchi. "I'm Hibiki Kita, these three boys' homeroom teacher."

"Thank you, everyone," the detective said. "As Mr. Narukami said, let's start with the Midoriyas' side of the story."

"Okay," Izuku blurted out. And so, he and his mother recounted everything that had happened involving himself and Mr. Kita up to that point, including the mysterious and suspicious appearance of the drugs and cigarettes.

"I see," Tsukauchi said. He turned to Bakugo. "And what about you?"

"I overheard Dye-Job tear into the nerd and smack him the other day," Bakugo spat, frustrated and confused over what was going on. "Then I heard him talking with a couple of other teachers on the roof. Apparently, Checkers has a lockbox he hides on the roof that's full of drugs and shit he steals from his family's pharmacy; sells that crap to students for a quick buck." He sent a glare at Yokoyama who looked ready to pee himself. "When he 'found' that stuff in the nerd's desk while we were cleaning up yesterday, it felt way too suspicious. When he showed up this morning, I dragged him here to make him confess."

"It's all lies!" Yokoyama cried out, tears bursting forth from his eyes. He dropped to his knees and looked at Tsukauchi with a desperate expression. "Please, sir, I don't know what he's talking about! This maniac attacked me when I walked through the gates; he grabbed me by the hair and dragged me here like some kind of animal!" He clasped his hands together as if praying at stared into the detective's eyes. "Protect me! Please protect me!"

"Okay, Yokoyama, just calm down," Mr. Kita as he helped his crying student stand up. "Look. Clearly, this is some sort of desperate attempt to try and divert attention away from Midoriya's drug possession. I have never assaulted a student or done anything they've accused me of. And the idea that Yokoyama would sell drugs is absurd."

The detective narrowed his eyes. "Is that whole truth, sir?" The teacher nodded. Tsukauchi sighed and looked at him with a disappointed expression. "Well, I wish I could believe you, Mr. Kita," Tsukauchi said. "But I know you're lying to me. You and your student."

Mr. Kita froze, stunned by the absolute certainty in the detective's voice. "What."

"I know when I'm being lied to," the detective said. "My Quirk allows to tell with absolute certainty whether or not someone is lying to me."

"Whoa, that's so cool!" Izuku exclaimed.

"Sweetie, now's not the time," Inko said.

"Y-you're saying that it's all true, every last word of it?" Principal Narukami asked. Tsukauchi simply nodded. The principal turned to Mr. Kita eyes wide and filled with what could only be described as horror. "Mr. Kita, how could you? To not only assault a student, but to try and manipulate him then attempt to cover it up."

"No! He's making it up," Yokoyama blurted out. "He's lying; he's crazy. It's some kind of conspiracy to-"

"Yokoyama!" Mr. Kita said, promptly shutting his student up. "That's enough." He let out a defeated sigh, and his body went slack, all the fight done from the teacher's body. Mr. Kita looked at Principal Narukami with a gaze overflowing with regret and sorrow, barely a glimmer of light left in his eyes. "He's right. I… I slapped Midoriya. I tried to manipulate him and use him because of his Quirk; I thought I could ride his coattails. When he confronted me I lost it, I pushed him against the wall, threatened him, and then slapped him." Tears began to creep into the corners of Mr. Kita's eyes; he struggled to hold them back as his voice began to tremble. "When Honda and Sasaki found out, they told me to take care of it, so I decided to throw Midoriya under the bus and discredit him before he could tell you. I bribed Yokoyama to put the drugs and cigarettes in Midoriya's desk, and, well, here we are."

Principal Narukami stared at Mr. Kita in stunned silence as he tried to process everything he'd just heard. "Hibiki," the principal said, his voice soft and sad. "I thought I could trust you."

"I know, and I'm sorry."

"Well, I suppose those should go without saying," Principal Narukami began as Bongo spoke calming words in his ear. "But you're fired. I don't want you anywhere near this school ever again." Mr. Kita said nothing as he covered his face and the tears finally broke through. "As for you, Yokoyama, I can't say anything for certain right now, but selling drugs to your classmates is a serious offence. I'll need to contact your parents." The black and white haired boy crumpled to the floor and broke down in tears. The principal sighed and turned to Tsukauchi. "I assume you'll need to take them both down to the station?"

"Unfortunately, yes," the detective said solemnly. "I'll also need to arrest this Mr. Honda and Ms. Sasaki, do you know where they are?"

"I'll bring up their schedules for you," Principal Narukami said as opened up his computer. "What about the Midoriyas and Bakugo?"

Tsukauchi turned to parties in question. "They can go, but I may need to contact them later for further questions. Would that be alright?" Izuku, Inko, and Bakugo said that it would be okay, although Bakugo's answer was far crasser than the mother and son's answer.

"If that's all, then you can all go," Principal Narukami said. "Midoriya, Bakugo, you two may be excused from class today. This has been…" He trailed off, completely drained from this entire debacle.

"Uhm, goodbye Principal Narukami," Izuku muttered. "I'll see you later I guess." Inko waved awkwardly while Bakugo walked out the door without a word.

Mother and son walked home in a daze. Nothing had gone as expected, the number of curve balls this day had thrown was mind boggling. When they finally reached their apartment, they walked in without a word.

"Well, that was… unexpected," Inko said as she took off her shoes and slumped down on the couch.

"Yeah," Izuku said. "I'm going to lie down for a bit."

"Okay, sweetheart. I'll wake you up when lunch is ready."

The green haired boy walked into his bedroom and fell onto his bed, not even bothering to change out of his uniform. He turned over with a groan and stared up at the ceiling. "What an absolute clusterfuck." He let out a sigh and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Hey… it's been a while, almost exactly three months. You know the deal, I'm in college, finals got crazy, yada, yada, yada. Holy shit this chapter is over 9,400 words long.**

 **Okay, firstly, I'd like to apologize for this whole Mr. Kita storyline, this is my first fanfic, and it ended up getting way out of hand, and I kept digging myself deeper and deeper and… look, I'm trying. Izuku said it best, this story line and this chapter were an absolute clusterfuck.**

 **I'm just glad I finally wrapped it up. Honestly, there was more I wanted to include, but this chapter is already way longer than it has any right to be.**

 **Next chapter will be all the stuff I wanted to include in this one but couldn't, so it will be a lot shorter and hopefully come out a lot sooner. Izuku and Katsuki will get a chance to talk next chapter, I guess you could call it a heart-to-heart but a lot more threatening.**

 **Again, I just wanted to thank everyone who's stuck with me and has continued to leave comments/reviews. You all make this worth and are motivating me to keep going.**

 **Hopefully, now that I've actually started outlining the chapter before I start writing them instead of winging it, things will (hopefully) go a lot smoother from now on.**

 **Again, sorry for how this turned out. This story will (hopefully) be much better moving forward.**


	10. Even Though I Hate You

The Healing Touch Chapter 10: Even Though I Hate You…

By

XPegasus

 **AN:**

 **Hello ladies, gentlemen, and others, it's been a while. College kept me busy, and it took a while to get back into the rhythm of writing after finals wrapped up. I'm glad I'm back, and I know a lot of you were wondering when I'd update again and were worried I'd abandon this fic.**

 **First off, I'd just like to say I can't freaking believe the response to the last chapter! I got so many reviews/comments, and you were all so supportive and kind! Honestly, I'm completely overwhelmed by your kindness; all of you are amazing, wonderful people.**

 **Thank you all, you're what keeps me writing this fic.**

 **Unfortunately, with so many reviews comes a problem. Simply because so many people are leaving comments/reviews on every chapter, I'm finding it extremely difficult to keep up and respond to every single comment/review. I hate to say this, but I'll need to start cutting back on my responses simply because they take so much time out of the days following an update.**

 **From now on, I won't be able to respond to every comment I receive on a chapter, but that won't mean I'm going to stop completely.**

 **Fun Fact! This chapter's title was originally the title of Chapter 9, Crash and Burn, but I changed it because it didn't feel like it fit when I had to cut content to stop Chapter 9 from going over 10K words.**

* * *

A bright, cloudless betrayed the autumn chill as Izuku as jogged towards Dagobah beach in his All Might tracksuit.

After a refreshing nap and a delicious lunch from his mother, Izuku had decided to go on a run to clear his head before meeting up with Toshinori for today's training. He stopped to stand on the sand, the sun low in the sky, and his breath visible in the cold air. Izuku took a moment to appreciate the sight, taking in the painterly quality of the scene before him.

"Young Midoriya? What are you doing here?" A familiar voice asked, catching Izuku's attention. Toshinori stood at the top of the steps with a surprised look on his face.

"Hey, Yagi," the boy said. "Just needed to get out of the house, it was a really crazy day at school."

"Are you okay?" Toshinori asked, giving the boy a once over.

"I mean, yeah," Izuku said. "I wasn't hurt or anything. It was emotionally exhausting, but the truth came out in the end."

"I bet, having a detective come in and kick down the door must have been quite a shock," Toshinori said.

"Yeah, but I'm really glad he showed up when he did." Suddenly, Izuku's eyes widened as he realized what his mentor had just said. "Hey, wait a sec, how'd you know about that?"

The Number 1 Hero went bug-eyed and spat out a mouthful of blood as he mentally berated himself for the mistake. 'Damn it; I can't believe I just did that. Okay, calm down, just explain what and everything will be fine… right?'

"Oh, um, the thing is," Toshinori said, rubbing the back of his neck and not quite looking Izuku in the eye. "Detective Tsukauchi is actually a friend of mine."

"Oh, I get it, so he told you what happened," Izuku said.

The blond man laughed nervously. "Not exactly," he said, confusing his protégé. "You see, I'd asked him to check out your school just in case anything went wrong. I had this gut feeling that you were walking into a trap, and I wanted to help." He looked down almost shamefully. "I shouldn't have overstepped my boundaries like that, Young Midoriya, even as your mentor, it's not my business to interfere with your personal life, I'm very sorry." He bowed towards his student in apology.

"No, no, it's okay," Izuku exclaimed. "You didn't overstep or anything like that, I'm grateful you called him. If your detective friend hadn't shown up, things would have gotten a whole lot worse."

"Are you sure?" the blond man asked nervously.

"Of course. After all, isn't meddling when you don't need to what being a hero is all about," Izuku said cheerfully. He gave his mentor a bright and sincere smile. "Thank you so much for looking out me, Yagi. That's why you're the Number 1 Hero."

Toshinori looked at his protégé with surprise before his face shifted into an embarrassed smile. "You're welcome, Young Midoriya, but I'll make sure to ask in the future if I can." He patted Izuku on the head. "Hey since, you've had such a crazy day, do you want to skip training today?"

The green-haired looked at his mentor with surprise. "Really? But what about my schedule, won't skipping a day throw me off?"

"Hey, you're already way ahead of where I'd thought you'd be, so missing one day won't hurt," Toshinori said. "There's a food truck serving crepes just down the street; you want to check it out?"

Izuku eyes lit up as he licked his lips at the thought of stuffing his mouth with crepes. "That sounds awesome!"

"What are we waiting for?" Toshinori said, not missing a beat. "Come on; those crepes won't eat themselves!"

"Right! Let's go!" Izuku shouted, excitedly following behind his mentor. Although, the day's events were still stewing in the back of his mind.

"Okay, we have one ham egg and cheese crepe and a small hot chocolate for the blond gentleman," the crepe truck cashier said, and handing Toshinori his order. "And we have one strawberry banana, one kiwi lychee, one pear caramel, one green tea crepe and an extra-large hot chocolate for the young man." The cashier handed Izuku his order with a cardboard tray hold his crepes.

"Thank you," Toshinori and Izuuku said together.

"You're welcome," the cashier said. "Have a nice time with your dad, kid." Mentor and protégé's eyes widened, Toshinori nearly spat out a mouthful of blood, they turned to correct the cashier but stopped when they saw the long line waiting to be served.

"Let's just go, Young Midoriya," Toshinori said with a small blush.

"R-right," Izuku mutter with a much brighter blush. They found a quiet spot to sit and dug into their treats, both still a bit embarrassed over the case of mistaken identity.

"How are your crepes?" Toshinori asked.

"They're amazing," Izuku said, a speck of whipped cream at the corner of his mouth. "It's sweet, but not overwhelming, and all the flavors go really well together."

"You've got a little something." Toshinori pointed to the speck of cream. Instead of wiping it away, Izuku licked it up with a satisfied smile. "My goodness, you don't let speck off food go to waste. I'll always be amazed by the appetite your Quirk gives you."

"Yeah, sometimes I even surprise myself with how much I can put away," Izuku said with a chuckle. "But I should be thankful; I wouldn't be here without it."

Toshinori gave the green-haired boy an odd look. "I don't quite understand, Young Midoriya."

"Well, it's just that there's no way I'd be ready for UA without Mending Corona," Izuku said. "If it weren't repairing my muscles after training, I'd be nowhere near ready to handle One for All by the entrance exam."

"Huh, I see," Toshinori said, contemplatively rubbing his chin. Suddenly, he flicked Izuku in the forehead, sending the boy reeling back in a screech of pain.

"Ow! What'd you do that for?" Izuku exclaimed, rubbing his sore spot.

"For selling yourself short," Toshinori reprimanded, pointing an accusatory finger at the boy. "Young Midoriya, do you remember why I chose to become my successor?"

"Of course," Izuku said. "Because I rushed in to save Kacchan when all everyone stood and watched. It was so surreal, I was so scared, but before I knew what was happening, I was already running to try and save him."

Toshinori smiled. "That's right. You have a desire to help people, to give them hope in times of crisis, and a drive to work for your dreams." He leaned back as old memories came back to him. "I've seen many heroes with strong Quirks, heroes who could've become truly great but weren't willing to put in the effort. More interested in the glitz and glamour of the job who coasted by, floundered in mediocrity because they only did the bare minimum." Toshinori looked Izuku straight in the eye. "Young Midoriya, I have no doubt in my mind that you would be ready for One for All even without Mending Corona." Toshinori smiled at his protégé. "Don't underestimate yourself."

Izuku stared at Toshinori with wide eyes. "Wow, I mean, uh- oh man," he muttered with a blush. "Thanks, Yagi. That really means a lot. I hope I can live up to the praise and just like you when I'm a Hero." Izuku gave his mentor a bright, beaming smile.

Toshinori nodded in agreement. "I'm certain you will."

* * *

The next day, Izuku found himself at yet another new hospital as he healed people under the watchful eye of Recovery Girl. The green-haired boy had already healed four people was currently treating his fifth patient.

The patient was a rather ordinary-looking boy the same age as Izuku with blond hair, black eyes, and an oval-shaped face. Overall, he didn't have any remarkable features except for the massive tail jutting out of his lower back thanks to his Quirk. The tail was as long as the boy was tall and was pure muscle. The blond teen had broken his extra appendage while breaking concrete slabs with it at his martial arts class.

The boy was lying on his side on the examination table, his face twisted in pain, as Izuku stood behind him. The boy's mother, a woman with black hair and black eyes, stood in front of her son, across the table from Izuku. Recovery Girl sat off to the side on a swivel chair in front of a computer, observing the green-haired boy.

Izuku took a deep breath and gently placed his hands over the spot with the broken bone; the blond teen grunted in pain. Slowly, a soothing green aura surrounded Izuku's hands, and it spread to the boy's tail. Under his breath, the green-haired boy counted ten seconds just as Recovery Girl had instructed, and at the end of his countdown, he relaxed and let the aura fade.

"And there we go," Izuku said, taking his hands off the boy's tail. "You should be completely healed. How do you feel?"

The blond boy sat up and gave his tail a few experimental wiggles. "Holy crap," he exclaimed. "My tail feels incredible. I feel incredible." He jumped off the table and vigorously wagged his tail. "It's like it was never broken."

"My little monkey's all better," the woman cheered, bringing a blush to her son's face.

"Mom, please not in front of people."

"I'm sorry, but I'm just so happy." She turned to Izuku, and with a beaming smile shook his hand "Thank you so much for treating my little Mashirao, I don't know what we would have done without you."

"It's no problem, Mrs. Ojiro," Izuku said. "I'm just glad I could help."

"Besides, this was good practice for him," Recovery Girl said. "He doesn't often treat people with Mutant Quirks, so it's- WILL YOU STOP THAT!" Her sudden outburst was accompanied by her pointing her cane. Izuku and Mrs. Ojiro turned to see her pointing at Mashirao, who was balancing on his tail like a kangaroo with his legs stretched out in front of him.

"B-but it's fixed. Right?" He said, planting his feet back on the ground.

"You should be, but you can't just do stuff like that until the X-Rays have confirmed you're healed," Recovery Girl scolded.

"Of course. I'm very sorry, Dr. Shuzenji," the blonde boy said nervously. He gave Recovery Girl a small bow and then turned to Izuku. "Thanks again for fixing my tail, Midoriya. You're amazing."

"You think so?" Izuku asked to which Mashirao nodded. "Thanks, and you're welcome too."

Recovery Girl hopped down from her chair. "It was very nice to meet you both; a nurse will be with you shortly to take you to the X-Ray Room. Midoriya and I need to be going."

"Okay, see you later," Mashirao said. "Hope you have a nice day."

"You too," Izuku said before closing the door behind himself and Recovery Girl.

As the pair made their way down the hall, Recover Girl looked to Izuku and asked: "How are you feeling, Midoriya?"

"I'm feeling pretty good," Izuku said as he gazed down at the bracelets on his wrists. "I think I'm finally getting the hang of this."

"That's good," Recovery Girl replied with a smile. "Are you going to have a gummy?"

"Oh, those…" Izuku said. He reached into his hip bag and pulled out a greenish-brown ball and gave it a sour look. "I mean, I should."

Recovery Girl scowled. "But?"

Izuku grimaced and said, "They still taste really bad."

"Still?" Recovery Girl said. "What does it taste like?"

He stroked his chin for in contemplation. "Like wood covered in sand with a metallic aftertaste. But it's an improvement over raw sewage… I guess"

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Goddamnit, they're supposed to taste like mixed berries. Back to the drawing board." She looked back at Izuku. "I'm not going to make you eat any more of those, so how about I take you out for lunch? There are a few restaurants across the street; I'll just need to tell the receptionist we're heading out."

"Awesome!" Izuku excitedly exclaimed.

Recovery Girl let the green-haired boy decide where they'd go to eat. He chose a burger restaurant called Big Kahuna with a laid back Hawaiian surfer theme decorated with tropical plants, surfboards, and murals of Hawaiian beaches. Izuku was in the middle of conquering the Kahuna Supreme, a monster of a burger with a pound of flame-grilled patties, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onions, pickles, bacon, grilled pineapple, teriyaki sauce, and jalapeño peppers on a toasted potato bun with a side of sweet potato fries and an iced tea. The green-haired boy was in what he'd call 'burger heaven.' Recovery Girl had gotten Fish and Chips, and could only stare as Izuku sunk his teeth into the massive burger.

The boy swallowed a bite of burger with a huge smile stained with teriyaki sauce. "Thanks so much for buying me lunch; this burger is amazing. But you didn't need to pay for me; I've got more than enough money from Mr. Yagi."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all," Recovery Girl said. "Think of this as a reward for all your hard work. You've made great progress on controlling Mending Corona. You nearly passed out after healing that girl with the gravity Quirk; you deserve this."

"Wow, I don't know what to say," Izuku said with a blush. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," Recovery Girl said before her mouth curled into a cheeky grin. "Besides, if we're being technical, I'm not the one paying."

Izuku looked at her in surprise. "What?"

"You remember that poker game Fukui invited me to?" Recovery Girl asked; Izuku nodded. "It was wonderful. I caught up with some old friends, had a few drinks, and cleaned house at the poker table." Her face split into a huge grin and she went into a fit of cackling laughter, all too pleased with herself.

'Note to self, never gamble with Recovery Girl,' Izuku thought nervously.

"Order whatever you want, Midoriya, and I'll tell my friends we made good use of their money," Recovery Girl said.

Izuku stared at his burger for a moment, feeling almost guilty at this new information. After a moment of consideration, he figured Recovery Girl had won the money fair and square, so she can do what she pleased with it. As he took another bite of his Kahuna Supreme, Izuku's mind wandered to yesterday and Bakugo's unexpected appearance. 'I never got a chance to thank him for helping me,' the green-haired boy thought. 'And why did he help me? Kacchan made it pretty clear that he… doesn't really like me.' Izuku's mind wandered to memories of Bakugo and his lackeys bullying him, the first day of the school year stood out as a particularly painful memory. 'This is all too weird. Maybe I'll try asking him on Monday.' He took a sip his iced tea and looked out the window. 'Wonder what he's doing now?'

* * *

Across town in the Bakugo household, Katsuki and his mother were sitting on the couch watching Mitsuki's favorite anime, _Tsubasa and the Thousand Paper Cranes_.

They were watching the third episode and were on a very… odd scene; in a boxing ring stood a girl in a bear costume and boy in a French maid outfit and both were holding foam bats.

" _Is this really necessary!?" the girl screamed._

" _Yes!" the boy replied. "If you want your paper cranes back you'll fight me. Right here, right now!"_

 _The girl gritted her teeth. "Fine, but why are we in these stupid costumes?"_

" _Honestly I just wanted an excuse to wear this again," he said with a shrug. "And I had the bear costume lying around from an old project that didn't pan out, so I figured why not."_

"I'm sorry, except I'm not, but what the fuck is this shit?" Katsuki asked. "This is the show that made you cry like a bitch."

"Oh shut up," Mitsuki said. "Just you wait, you'll be balling your eyes out by episode 12."

* * *

'Well, nothing I can do about it now,' Izuku thought, putting away those questions for a later and deciding to focus on this delicious burger in front of him.

* * *

Sunday found Inko Midoriya grocery shopping at Seven Cats Market, taking advantage of the store-wide sale they'd announced the day before. 'And that's it," Inko thought as she put a few containers of panko breadcrumbs into her overflowing shopping cart. She looked at her haul, thankful for today's sale.

"Hey, mom." Inko turned to see her son pushing his own full shopping cart towards her. "I got everything on my list."

"That's great, so did I," Inko said. "Thanks again for coming with me, and I was afraid I wouldn't get everything I wanted. These prices were too good to pass up. "

"No problem, mom," Izuku said. "It's nice to get out of the house; I wasn't sure what I wanted to do today." They arrived at the check stand, and both sighed as they saw the long lines in front of them. After what felt like an eternity, Inko and Izuku left Seven Cats Market with arms full of bags.

"It's not too heavy, is it?" Inko asked she watched her son carry all the heaviest items.

"I'm okay," Izuku said. "It's just another work out for me, nothing I can't handle." Suddenly, someone roughly bumped shoulders with him. With all the extra weight, the green-haired boy went tumbling forward but scarcely saved himself at the last second.

"Watch it!" a gruff and scratchy voice barked.

"Sorry, I-" Izuku had turned to apologize but stopped when he saw no one was next to him. He looked around and saw someone in a black hoodie walking away. Deciding to leave him be, Izuku said nothing.

"Izuku, are you, okay!?" Inko asked.

He sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just go home." They briskly walked towards the bus stop, eager to get home and cook a nice dinner. Izuku looked back at where the man in the hoodie had bumped into him, an uneasy feeling churning in the pit of his stomach.

"Stupid brat, the little piece of shit needs to watch where he's going," the man muttered to himself. He plunged a hand into his pocket and pulled out a photo of a girl with muddy brown hair in a ponytail and neon yellow eyes, keeping his pinky raised as he held it. "Why the hell do I need to recruit this girl, I thought that was what Giran was for?" Although he was aware that Giran was across town recruiting another prospective 'partner,' it still pissed the man in the hoodie off.

He turned into a back alley, out of sight of the general public, and ended up directly behind Seven Cats Market. It reeked of garbage, the man scowled. 'She'd better be worth it,' he thought as looked around for his target. Finally, fortune seemed to smile upon him as he saw the girl in the photo talking to a red-haired guy in the Seven Cats uniform.

"¥20,000? Last week it was ¥10,000," the redhead said, sounding extremely irritated.

"Yeah, that was then, this is now," she girl spat, her eyes glowing in the darkness of the alley. "Do you realize what it took to get this stuff? Honestly, 20K is a fucking steal."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "How do I know you're not just-"

"Hey," the man in the hoodie exclaimed. "Buzz off; I've gotta talk to her."

"Yeah, yeah, when I'm done," the redhead said. "Look, all I'm saying is that-"

"Jackass!" the hooded man yelled, stomping towards them. "I told you to get out of here, and you're pissing me off." The girl and the redhead finally turned to face him, both looking annoyed.

"What the hell's your problem," the girl said, glaring at the man in the hoodie. "I'm trying to have a nice and easy business transaction; wait your turn."

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, why'd you two have to make this fetch quest so difficult," the hooded man growled. He reached into his hood to scratch his neck. The girl and the redhead could hear the sickening sound where they stood.

'Fetch quest?' the girl thought, eyeing this newcomer suspiciously.

"Look just be patient; when I'm talking to her you have your little chat," the redhead declared.

Suddenly, the scratching stopped, and an eerie silence filled the air in its place. "Oh, I get it," he said, his voice now calm and serene. His hands lazily dropped his sides; he became unnaturally still. "To complete my quest, I need to get rid of you." The girl and redhead blinked in surprise.

It happened in an instance. He grabbed the redhead by the throat with one hand and slammed him against the wall. Pinky still raised.

'The fuck!? I didn't even see him,' the girl thought. She looked on and saw the man in the hoodie effortlessly strangle the redhead with one hand. Every atom of her being was screaming at her to run, she wanted to run, but her legs wouldn't move.

The redhead looked down in terror as he felt his lungs burn. He tried to tear the man's fingers off his throat, but his grip was like a vice. 'God, please, no, I don't wanna die,' he thought as tears and snot pouring down his face.

"I told you to walk away," the hooded man growled. "I told you to get out of here. I gave you a chance, but you just had to be stubborn."

"P-p-please," the redhead managed to force through his collapsing windpipe. "I'm sorry- I'm sorry." Every breath was a struggle, but the redhead feared death more than he feared the pain. "Don't kill me." After a moment of contemplation, the hooded man grunted and loosened his grip, but kept his hand on the redhead's throat. Oxygen flooded his lungs as he went into a coughing fit. The girl breathed a sigh of relief, thankful it was over.

"You know what, I shouldn't kill you," the hooded man said.

"Oh, thank you," the redhead said, terror and adrenaline coursing through his veins. "Thank you so much, sir."

"But," the hooded man said. The girl and redhead's blood ran cold. "I'm in a bad mood." He lowered his pinky; all five fingers were on the man's throat.

The girl watched in horror as the redhead's throat disintegrated, turning to ash in the hooded man's hand. The body fell to the ground like a ragdoll; the head rolled to her feet like a bowling ball, shock and pain etched onto its face.

"Damn it, Sensei told me not to leave any bodies," the man said, exasperated. He lowered his hood, revealing messy bluish-grey hair. "Now I've got to clean this up." He finally looked back at the girl with piercing blood-red eyes. "Hey, are you Hinata Abe?" The girl said nothing, she stepped backward and tripped, falling flat on her ass.

"Damn it, are you Hinata Abe?" the man-no- the murderer said as made his way towards the girl. "If you don't give me an answer, I'll kill you."

She wanted to speak, she tried to speak, but it was like her mouth had been sewn shut. He was barely a foot away from her; the girl was certain she was about to die. He knelt in front of her; she saw him flex his hand, the same hand he used to kill the redhead. The murder raised it and-

"Yes!" she screamed, tears running down her face. "I'm Hinata! I'm Hinata Abe!"

-lowered it. "Good," he said, a smile spreading across his pallid, scarred face. "I need to talk to you; Sensei has a proposition for you."

Hinata was breathing heavily, feeling her stomach twist and turn. "Okay," she said meekly. "But can you give me some space. Please." The murderer scowled but complied. "Thank you." She turned over on her hands and knees, facing away from the man, and proceeded to vomit and then pass out in her bile.

He stared at her for a moment and sighed. "Shit."

* * *

Later that evening at the Midoriya's apartment, after a delicious dinner, it was time for Hisashi's weekly call.

" _Hey there,"_ Hisashi said through the speakerphone. _"How are my two favorite people doing?"_

"Hey dad, we're doing just fine," Izuku said.

"Hello, honey," Inko said. "And how are you?"

" _I'm doin' just fine,"_ Hisashi said. _"I mean, my boss has been in a foul mood and yelling at everyone all week, but other than that I'm great."_ Izuku and Inko stared the phone with wide eyes. _"Sorry, sorry, it's… it's been a long week."_

"Man, sorry that happened, dad," Izuku said. "Can't you do anything about your boss? Maybe complain to HR?"

" _Unfortunately not, he's the grandson of the CEO and his parents are both higher-ups in the company,"_ Hisashi explained with great frustration. _"If anyone complains about him he'll run crying to mummy and daddy and get them fired. Ain't nepotism great?"_

"That's horrible," Inko exclaimed. "How can you work for someone like that?"

" _Eh, it's not all bad,"_ Hisashi said. _"It pays really well, and we've got tons of benefits, so it all evens out, I guess. Besides, he usually sits in his office with his sheep doing jackshit all day and leaves us alone. He's just been particularly cranky this week."_

"Well, I hope you have a better week starting tomorrow," Izuku said. "Anyway, there was something I wanted to tell you."

" _Fire away, kiddo,"_ Hisashi said.

Izuku took a deep breath to steady his nerves and went on to explain everything to his father. Well, not 'everything' everything, mostly just his training with Recovery Girl and the whole ordeal with Mr. Kita, including the absolute shit show in the principal's office on Friday. Going over everything that had happened since the start his third year of middle school, the green-haired boy began to realize just how crazy his life had gotten.

"And that's about it," Izuku said, finishing his story.

" _Let me get this straight,"_ Hisashi said. _"You met All Might's secretary and became his errand boy, he took you to Recovery Girl and found out you had a Quirk, became her apprentice under the guise of being her great-nephew, your teacher tried to emotionally manipulate you, and when you found out the truth he tried to get you expelled, and then you got saved thanks to Katsuki and a detective who kicked and the Principal's door. Oh, and your principal has an emotional support parrot. That about sum it up?"_

"Uh, huh."

" _Izuku, what in the goddamn, ever-loving fuck is your life?"_

"Hisashi!" Inko scolded. "Could you take this a bit more seriously?"

" _Sorry, love,"_ Hisashi said. _"But you've got to admit; this shit is like something out of a book or TV show or those fanfics you wrote in college."_

'Wait. What? Fanfics?' Izuku thought.

" _The thing I'm most surprised about is that Katsuki of all people came to help you,"_ Hisashi said. _"I didn't think that angry Pomeranian had a nice bone in his body."_ Izuku and Inko burst into a fit of giggles at Hisashi's comparison.

"Oh my god, I never noticed," Izuku said between laughs. "Kacchan does look like a Pomeranian."

"I was so surprised to see him burst in dragging that other boy in by the hair," Inko said. "Especially since he and Izuku haven't spoken since, I don't know, Elementary school. I wonder what goes through Katsuki's head?"

* * *

" _I think I finally understand now,"_ said the girl on a flat-screen TV. She stood on a hill in red and white Yukata, in her hand she held a balloon with 100 paper cranes attached to the string. _"What my mom said about wishes."_

" _Hey, Tsubasa, are you ready?"_ someone said. The girl in the red and white Yukata turned around to see nine other people, each holding a balloon with 100 paper cranes attached to the strings.

" _Yes,"_ Tsubasa said. _"On the count of three. 1, 2, 3!"_ She and the nine other people let go of the balloons and watched as they and the thousand paper cranes lifted into the air. She watched as the balloons flew higher and higher into the sky, becoming smaller and smaller until they disappeared from sight. A single tear ran down her smiling face, and the screen faded to black.

On the couch in front of the TV were Katsuki and his mother, and they were… crying, balling their eyes out like there was no tomorrow.

"Oh god, it hurts," Mitsuki cried as buried her face in a pillow. "I thought it would hurt less after all these years, but I was wrong!"

"Tsubasa!" Katsuki yelled as tears ran down his face. "You didn't have to give up your wish you stupid bitch!"

"But she wanted to!"

"I know!"

In the kitchen, Masaru sat reading a book and glanced over at his wife and son. 'This is probably the strangest way they've ever bonded.'

* * *

" _Who knows,"_ Hisashi said. _"I'm certainly not gonna ask him; he might blow me up or bite me."_

"You're over-exaggerating," Inko said. "I mean, I think you are, and I certainly hope so."

"Maybe it's better just to leave Kacchan be," Izuku said. "So, mom, you used to write fanfiction?"

Inko looked at her son. Her cheeks turned bright crimson, and she buried her face in her hands. "Oh my god."

" _You didn't know? Yeah, your mom was super into writing fanfiction for like a decade-"_

"Oh my god."

" _-she started when she was in middle school-"_

"Oh my god."

" _-and kept writing until she finished college."_

"Oh my god, will you stop talking," Inko said, face still buried in her hands. "Why, why'd you have to bring that up?"

" _Come on; you wrote great stuff. People loved it, I think you got, like, a hundred comments every time you uploaded something,"_ Hisashi's words only served to make Inko blush even redder. _"Hey, kiddo, let me tell you about your mom's magnum opus; it's called_ Would You Like Roses in your Coffee? _, it's a slow-burn friends-to-lovers romance, Coffee Shop and Fake Dating AU fanfic with Hanahaki Disease of this fantasy anime we used to watch-"_

"Stop talking, or we're getting a divorce!" Inko blurted out, her face looking like a fresh tomato. An awkward silence hung in the air as Izuku stared at his mother as she radiated embarrassment.

" _So… Izuku, any interesting patients at the hospital?"_

"Wh-what?" Izuku said. "Oh, yeah, I treated I guy with a tail yesterday. I haven't healed that many people with Mutant Quirks, so it's good practice."

" _Huh, neat."_

* * *

After weeks of anticipation, the day had finally arrived for the field trip to the Musutafu Aquarium. Izuku, Bakugo, and their homeroom class had excitedly packed into a rented bus and made their way to the aquarium. Once there, the students had been given free rein to explore the aquarium at their leisure with the caveat of the class having to meet up at the cafeteria for lunch.

"I'll take a shrimp burger, a tuna sandwich, a salmon teriyaki plate, a pork cutlet bowl, and a seafood tempura plate," Izuku said to the cashier. "Oh, and a 'Blue Whale' sized iced green tea."

"Don't your friends want anything to drink?" the cashier asked.

"This is all for me, actually," Izuku explained. The cashier gave him a disturbed look.

"O…kay," they said, handing Izuku his ticket. "Pick up your order at the end when they call your number."

"Got it, thank you very much," Izuku said. A bit later he returned to his table with food in hand. He looked around the aquarium's cafeteria; it was a very barebones set up with round blue tables and cheap blue plastic chairs, but immaculately clean. The aquarium had sectioned off a small portion of the cafeteria for Izuku's homeroom.

As his eyes wandered the room, he saw Bakugo eating with lackeys. He sent Izuku a glare, the green-haired boy looked down and went back to eating his massive meal. On Monday, Izuku had attempted to talk with Bakugo to thank him for and ask why he'd come to his aid on Friday. As soon as he'd opened his mouth, Bakugo set off an explosion in Izuku's face and stormed off. The green-haired boy had thought about trying again but figured it would be an exercise in futility.

"Attention students, attention," came the voice of their substitute teacher, Mr. Higa. He was a man with yellowish-green skin, a pair of antennae, and bushy black beard and mustache. "I wanted to remind everyone to be waiting by the entrance at 2:30 to prepare to leave and that the baby Great White's feeding time will begin shortly after lunch." Most of the students were only half-listening. "Please be on your best behavior for the rest of the field trip. That's all." The class made various noises of agreement like "Yeah" and "Uh-huh" and "Okay." Mr. Higa rolled his eyes and went back to his lunch.

'I haven't seen the baby shark yet, watching eat should be cool,' Izuku thought. He soon finished his lunch and decided to check out to the baby Great White Shark. As he and about half the class made their way towards the exhibit, Izuku was unaware of the person following him. When he entered the exhibit room, Izuku's jaw practically hit the floor; inside was a gargantuan 50 foot tall, 2 million gallon tank that held the baby Great White Shark.

Before he could take another step forward, Izuku felt a hand roughly grab his shoulder. 'Crap,' he thought, instantly aware of who it was.

"Deku," Bakugo said with his signature scowl.

"H-h-hey, Kacchan," Izuku muttered, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. "What's up?"

"We need to talk."

Izuku nervously swallowed air, scared of what exactly this 'talk' entailed. "O-okay." With everyone congregating near the front of the tank, Bakugo dragged Izuku towards a back corner of the room and shoved him against the wall.

"Let's get something straight, you fat nerd," Bakugo said, lowering his voice so no one else would hear. "We're not friends; you're still the same fat, pathetic loser you've always been, Quirk or no Quirk."

Izuku wanted to sigh but stopped himself. 'Of course, I shouldn't have expected anything else.'

"And I… I was," Bakugo began. Izuku watched in confusion as he grit his teeth and clenched his fists as though in physical pain. "I was… wrong. About. You. And. Mr. Kita."

'What!?' Izuku thought, staring wide-eyed at Bakugo. He opened his mouth to speak but quickly shut it when the blond boy gave him another glare.

"I overheard that bastard slap you around and threaten you after you told him off," Bakugo said. "And then I eavesdropped on him and those other shitty teachers planning something on the roof." A strangely calm and serious expression formed on Bakugo's face. "In the end, I figured that even though I hate you, I couldn't let those sick fucks get away with their plans and let you take the blame. That's why I helped you."

"Kacchan," Izuku said. "I just wanted to say th-"

"Don't," Bakugo said, low and dangerous. "I don't want your 'thank yous.' I don't want you thinking we're friends. And I don't want you getting any stupid ideas about being a Hero in your head, Deku." He flexed his hand as if to set off an explosion. "Nothing's changed between us; you're still a bug, a stepping stone on my path to Number One." Bakugo turned around to look at the baby Great White swimming in its tank. "I'm like this shark; I'm already strong, but I've got a long way to go before I'm the greatest." An aquarium staff member threw a live fish into the tank. "And if you get in my way." The shark struck, devouring its prey. "I'll kill you the first chance I get."

Izuku stared at Bakugo, shaking with nerves. The green-haired boy swallowed air and clenched his fist as determination welled up inside him despite his fear. "K-Kacchan," Izuku exclaimed. Bakugo looked back at him in annoyance. "Thank you for helping me."

The blond boy glared at Izuku with burning red eyes. "I told you, I don't-"

"But let's get one thing straight," the green-haired boy said, catching Bakugo off guard. "You're right; nothing's changed between us," even with his newfound confidence, fear still tinged Izuku's voice. "And that means no matter what you say I'm going to try for UA. I will become a Hero, the Number 1 Hero."

An ugly, oppressive silence filled the air between them. Bakugo clenched his jaw so fiercely it was a miracle his teeth hadn't shattered. Anger boiled inside his eyes. All of Izuku's confidence threatened to disappear as he stared down his old friend, but he held on to it as tight as he could. The tension was so permeable that it drew the attention of some attendees.

"Deku," Bakugo said, his voice barely a whisper but overflowing with rage.

'Double crap,' Izuku thought, his grip on his confidence slowly slipping.

"Tch, whatever," Bakugo spat, the tension suddenly gone. "Go to the entrance exams for all I care. Maybe it'll be the wakeup call you need when UA eats you alive." With that, he stalked off to the tank to get a better look at the shark.

'Oh my god that was so scary,' Izuku thought, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. 'Well, at least we've cleared the air.' He let himself smile and decided to let himself enjoy the rest of his time at the aquarium… far away from Bakugo.

* * *

Far away from the Musutafu Aquarium, out of sight of the Heroes, Hinata Abe sat in bar clutching her boyfriend's hand for dear life. At the counter sat the blue-haired murderer she'd met on Sunday, now dressed in a long-sleeved black t-shirt and wearing what looked like a dismembered, embalmed hand on his face. Behind the counter was a man who appeared to be made of black smoke; he was in a crisp white dress shirt under a dark green vest and a green and black tie — a sharp contrast to the ragged and unkempt appearance of his compatriot.

She looked around at the other occupants, four people who looked as uncomfortable as she felt.

"Where is he?" the blue-haired man said, sounding very annoyed. "Giran should've been here with the last two by now."

"Have patience," the smoke man said, his voice calm and refined. "You know he always keeps his word."

Suddenly, the door to the bar burst open. In walked a man with spiky gray hair, pink eyes, and a thin mustache and goatee; he wore a dull purple blazer and pants with round glasses on his face. A cigarette hung from his grinning lips, and a gold necklace sparkled in the dim light. Two new people trailed behind him.

"Sorry we're late," the cigarette smoking man, who Hinata assumed was 'Giran,' said with swagger. "Got hungry on the way and grabbed a bite at Big Kahuna." The blue-haired man started scratching his neck, muttering to himself. Giran scanned the room and saw Hinata. "Good to see you're in one piece; hope Shigaraki didn't scare you."

'Shigaraki,' Hinata thought. 'So that's his name.'

Giran's gaze wandered to her boyfriend. "And you must be Yoshida?"

"That's right," he said rather stiffly. "I'm Kuro Yoshida." Kuro was of average height and build with messy black, white eyes with black sclera, and a pair of stubby goldenrod colored horns at his hairline.

"So, looks like everyone's here," Shigaraki said.

" _Excellent,"_ a deep, haunting voice rang through the air. The guests searched the room looking for the source until they saw the computer beneath a torn-up All Might poster that said 'AUDIO ONLY.' _"Now, shall we begin?"_

* * *

 **I'll admit, this chapter is a bit fillery, but I hope I made it entertaining and enjoyable to read. Also, sorry if the crepe scene at the beginning is a little rough, I added it in last minute because I thought the scene was too short. I actually cut and reworked a lot of content of this chapter, I've got three and a half thousand words worth of deleted scenes.**

 **On the bright side, an early appearance from Sun Wu Kong, the Hand Man, Grillby, the broke-ass broker who likes cute things, and the voice of the evil potato. Along with special guest, spooky foreshadowing.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review/comment if you feel inclined, they're the fuel for the fanfiction machine.**

 **Have a wonderful day all you beautiful people, and I'll see you in the next one.**


	11. EAT THIS!

The Healing Touch Chapter 11: EAT THIS!

By

XPegasus

 **AN:**

 **Hello everyone, it's been a while. A lot of stuff has been going on lately, but I'm just glad I got this chapter done.**

 **But before you get started, you'll want to know that when narrating I've chosen refer Toshinori Yagi as All Might rather than Toshinori, and I've also decided to have Izuku call All Might Mr. Yagi all the time instead of just when they're with Inko and Yagi when they're alone.**

 **The reason for this change is because it just didn't feel right doing it the other way. I'm going to go back and change the older chapters to make it consistent throughout the whole story and possibly fix some other grammatical errors, but I figured it was better to change it now and get the chapter out sooner rather than later.**

* * *

" _Dashing through the snow_

 _In a one-horse open sleigh_

 _O'er the fields we go_

 _Laughing all the way"_

The infectiously catchy song played over the department store's speakers as Ochako walked the aisles, looking for a Christmas present for her parents. 'Let's see,' she thought as she scanned the prices. 'I've got ¥10,000 saved up. Do I want to get two cheaper presents or one more expensive thing for them to share?' When she got to the kitchen appliances, Ochako's stomach dropped. 'What the hell! How does a rice cooker go for ¥35,000? Who'd even buy it?'

"Would you look at that, it's perfect," said a woman covered in gold jewelry. Ochako watched in shock as she casually picked up said rice cooker and put it in a cart overflowing with expensive-looking items being pushed by a boy in a Gucci coat. As they ran off to buy more absurdly expensive Christmas gifts, Ochako felt like she'd just been slapped in the face with a wad of bills.

"Excuse me, ma'am, are you alright?" Ochako snapped back to reality as she heard someone new. She turned to see a man in his thirties with a blond comb-over and dark brown roots wearing the store's uniform.

"Oh, I'm fine," Ochako said solemnly. "Everything's just so expensive."

The man nodded. "I hear you; they try and squeeze you for all your worth. Who're you shopping for?"

"My parents." Ochako sighed in frustration. "They told me I should buy something for myself, but I really want to get them a present."

The employee thought for a moment, then a lightbulb went off in his head. "I've got an idea, follow me." He led Ochako away from the appliances and down towards the clothing department. "The store's going to have one of their surprise sales soon. Someone's going to bring out a sign and they'll make an announcement. When they do, grab something before it gets mobbed."

Not a moment later, a female employee came out and placed a great big sign that said "SALE! 90% OFF" and an announcement came over the intercom: "Attention shoppers, special Christmas sale in the clothing department. 90% off on all hats, gloves, scarves, and other clothing accessories. Get them while they're hot."

Without missing a beat, Ochako pounced like a tiger hunting its prey. She heard dozens, maybe hundreds, of pounding rushing towards her. She grabbed a tie and a pair of gloves for her dad. A scarf and a hat for her mom. Ochako was tempted to grab more, but when she saw the crazed hoard of shoppers stampeding towards her with hungry looks in their eyes, she fled.

"Mine!"

"Give it here!"

"Hands off!"

"I'll fucking kill you!"

Ochako looked back and gazed at the horror of dozens of shoppers practically trying to kill each other over a few pieces of clothing. 'Holy crap, glad I'm not in the middle of that,' she thought with relief. A woman with a broken nose was knocked to the ground before jumping back into the fray.

"I don't know what it is, but shopping brings out the worst in people," the employee said. "Got what you needed?"

"More than that," Ochako said with a smile. Each item in her basket easily went for around ¥10,000 normally, but with the discount, she'd have more than enough leftover money. "Thank you so much, uh." Ochako realized she'd never gotten his name; she quickly glanced at his nametag. "Kita."

"No problem," Kita exclaimed. "Glad I could help. Anything else you need?"

"Could you tell me where the plush toys are?" Ochako asked. "I kind of want to treat myself." Kita nodded and lead her to a section with aisles upon aisles of stuffed animals. "This is crazy, there're so many."

"I know, it's kind of overwhelming," Kita said as Ochako scanned the shelves. Suddenly, her eyes landed on display filled with red, green, and white stuffed animals.

"Oh my gosh, they're so cute and Christmassy," Ochako said excitedly. She picked up a green sheep, not noticing Kita's grimace. "Aw, this one's adorable."

'It looks just like Midoriya,' Ochako thought. 'He was so nice; I hope I see him again.'

'That thing looks just like Midoriya,' Kita thought. 'Must I be reminded of my mistakes every day?'

* * *

Dark winter clouds hung over Musutafu.

Cold ocean winds buffeted Dagobah Beach.

The biting chill was only enhanced by the absence of the sun.

Despite the freezing cold, Izuku's body burned like fire from his tireless work. Sweat dripped down his face as he made his final push towards his goal. 'I can't stop, I'm almost there.' His feet dug into the sand as the icy wind whipped at his bare torso, but it was nothing compared to the fire in his soul. With a final herculean effort, Izuku climbed the steps threw the final piece of trash onto the massive pile.

He climbed to the top of the pile, overlooking all of Dagobah Beach, not a speck of trash to be found. Pride welled in Izuku's chest. As the sun broke through the darkness, he let out a primal scream that reverberated through the air. 'I did it. I really did it.' Tired beyond belief, Izuku's body went slack, and he fell towards the sand.

Rather than tasting dirt, Izuku felt himself being held in strong arms. Opening his bleary eyes, he looked up to see the smiling face of All Might in his muscle form. "Excellent work, Young Midoriya," All Might said, a proud smile spread across his face.

"I finished everything, Mr. Yagi," Izuku said, utterly exhausted but still grinning. "I did it. Do you think I'm ready now?"

"Yeah, you did good, kid," All Might said as he set Izuku down. "I've got to say, I'm impressed. I knew you had it in you, but this beyond all my expectations." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Take a look at this."

With bleary eyes, Izuku looked at the phone and saw…himself? Only it wasn't his current self; it was a picture of him from April, lying on the ground and crying with his pathetic stick arms and string bean legs.

"This is you from our first day of training," All Might said. "And look at you now! You've sculpted your body into a piece of art! You've come so far. There's a long road ahead before you can inherit my full power, but it's starting to look like you can do it!"

Izuku gazed upon his mentor, eyes full of wonder. "Mr. Yagi," he said, voice barely a whisper. "Do I really deserve this? Are you sure?" Overcome with emotion, tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. "You and Recovery Girl put so much effort into helping me." The tears ran down his face like streams as he softly hiccupped his words. "How did I end up so lucky?"

'Are you really worried about this after all the time and effort you put into this?' All Might thought. The blond hero let out a roaring laugh.

"Don't be so modest, Young Midoriya," he said, patting his protégé on this back. "It was your hard work that did this, not mine or anyone else's. Now, for your reward, Izuku Midoriya."

Izuku wiped the tears from his eyes. "Yes, sir."

All Might plucked a single lock of golden hair from his head. "Someone told me this once, there's a difference between being lucky and deserving; one is an accident, the other is a reward. Never get the two confused." Izuku looked up at his idol with wonder and disbelief. "Take that to heart, young man. This gift, you've earned it with your own valiant efforts."

Izuku's slowly changed into one of confidence and determination. "Right."

"Now," All Might said as he held out his hand. "Eat this."

…

…

…

"Come again…" Izuku croaked.

"To inherit One for All, you need to swallow some of DNA," Toshinori said. "Look, that's just how it works."

"Th-th-this isn't really how I expected it to go," Izuku said, slowly backing away.

"Oh, come one, how did you think I'd give you my Quirk?"

"I don't know! Maybe you'd pull a ball of light out of your chest and put it in mine. Or I'd have to repeat a special chant or vow. Just not THIS!" Izuku was shaking as he stared at the lock of hair as it mockingly waved in the wind.

All Might let out a frustrated. "Kid, this isn't a god damned comic book. If I had to eat a piece of hair to get One for All, so do you."

"Isn't there another way to do this?" Izuku asked, desperate for a way out.

"Can you think of a less awkward way for you to ingest some of my DNA?"

A horrified, disgusted look spread across the green-haired boy's face. "Just… just give me the hair."

"AH HA HA HA! That's the spirit," All Might said as Izuku took the strand from his hand.

'Well, bottoms up,' Izuku thought with a grimace. He threw the hair in his mouth and tried to swallow it as fast as possible. 'Oh, god! It tastes awful. How can a piece of hair taste so bad?' Finally, the hair slithered down Izuku's throat and landed uncomfortably in his stomach.

"See, hair's not so bad. It's just a bit of an acquired taste," All Might said jovially as his protégé struggled not to vomit. "Don't worry, your stomach will settle down in a bit. The same thing happened to me."

"R-right…" Izuku muttered. "Now what?"

"Oh, right," All Might before deflating to his skinny form in a billow of steam. "I've got nowhere to be. Want to go to Ginko's?"

"Yes, please!" Izuku exclaimed. "All I've had today is energy bars."

"Alright, I'll buy you some real breakfast," All Might said. "By the way, where's your shirt?."

Izuku looked himself over and nervously rubbed the back of his head. "I, uh, got kind of hot during my workout, so took it off."

"Young Midoriya, it's 6 degrees*," All Might said flatly. "You're going to catch a cold like that."

 **(*Author's Note: 6 degrees Celsius is about 43 degrees Fahrenheit)**

* * *

When the pair had arrived, Ginko's had only just opened their doors. Izuku and All Might were the only ones there and had chosen their usual secluded corner in the back.

All Might had gotten a bowl of oatmeal with fresh fruit while Izuku had ordered a massive mountain of food; pancakes, waffles, omelets, scrambled eggs, bowls of fruit, yogurt, bacon, sausages, and much more. By the look in his eyes, the green-haired boy was going to eat all of it.

"Mmmh, thank you so much," Izuku said before devouring another bite of pancakes. "I was so in the zone, I didn't realize how hungry I was."

"You're welcome, Young Midoriya," All Might said. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better. My stomach's not doing somersaults anymore," Izuku said. He looked down and scrunched his face. "But it's strange, I don't feel any different."

"That's normal," All Might said. He looked around and saw only two more people had entered the restaurant and the waitress was on the other side of the room. He leaned over and whispered, "It can take a few hours for One for All to kick in. It didn't fully merge with me until I got a good night's sleep."

Izuku nodded. He leaned forward, glancing around for anyone listening in. "Hey, Mr. Yagi, how many people know about One for All?"

All Might blinked in surprise. "Oh, guess I never told you who was in the know. Besides you and me, there's Recovery Girl, Detective Tsukauchi, UA's principal, and an old friend of my master."

"That's all?" Izuku asked. His mentor hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Geez, you can count them on one hand."

"I know what you mean," All Might said. "When my master gave me One for All, the only other person who knew about was her friend." He leaned back and sighed, a distant look in his eyes. "If the public found out, the results could be disastrous. The very idea that a Quirk could be transferred between people could shake the foundation of society. Keeping this secret is a burden, but it's the one I chose to bear."

Izuku looked at his mentor and nervously swallowed a mouthful of eggs. 'I knew it was important to keep One For All a secret, but I'd never thought about it that way. Now it's my job to keep Mr. Yagi's secret.'

"Are you two, alright?"

Izuku and All Might yelped in surprise. The blond man barely caught a spurt of blood in his handkerchief. They turned to see the four-armed, five-eyed waitress was staring at them with a notepad in hand.

"Uh, anything I can get you?" she asked, curiously eyeing her patrons.

"Oh, sorry," All Might said, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm fine, thank you for asking."

"I'm fine too," Izuku said.

"Okay," she said, giving the pair an odd look before walking away.

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about this in a public place like this?" Izuku said.

"That's a good idea," All Might said. He looked and saw some blood had gotten in his oatmeal. "Aw crap." Rather embarrassed, he waved the waitress over and asked for a new bowl.

* * *

It was a little before 9 o'clock when Izuku made it home. When he walked in, he saw his mother sitting on the couch in her nightgown and watching the news with a cup of coffee. "Morning, sweetheart," she said. "You're back a lot sooner than I thought you'd be."

"Morning, mom," Izuku said. "Mr. Yagi gave me the rest of the day off since he had me come in super early."

"Oh, that was nice. Do you want anything to eat?"

"I'm good, Mr. Yagi bought me breakfast. I'll be in my room." He gave his mom a wave and walked. As soon as he walked into his room, Izuku threw himself onto the bed.

'Oh god, I'm so tired,' he thought as he buried his face in the pillow. 'I just want to take a nap.' Izuku rolled over and thought about getting One for All, and his parents who had no idea what was actually going on. 'Should I tell them? I mean, telling them feels like the right thing to do.' He thought about their promise to not keep secrets from each other, but out of the corner of his saw, one of his All Might posters.

He sat up and stared at the poster. Izuku looked around his room and at the myriad pieces of All Might merchandise that covered every wall, shelf, and surface. All Might's words from breakfast echoed through Izuku's mind. 'I can't tell her,' Izuku thought solemnly. 'Mr. Yagi trusted me to keep One For All a secret, I can't betray him like that.' He flopped back onto his bed. 'Besides, One for All is Mr. Yagi's Quirk, not mine. It's not even my secret to tell.'

* * *

Days passed, Christmas came and went, and finally, Winter Break had arrived.

It was the day after Christmas, the first day of the break, and All Might had asked Izuku to get up early so they could begin his training to wield One for All. 6:00 am on the dot, Izuku exited his apartment in a green winter tracksuit and saw All Might next to his car on the street below.

"So, where are we going?" Izuku asked as soon as he got in the truck.

"UA. I asked the principal if we could use the training grounds while the students and staff are away on break," All Might said. "Except Recovery Girl, she'll be there to help."

"I get to train at UA?! Awesome!" Izuku excitedly exclaimed. He was so excited he didn't even question why Recovery Girl would need to be there. When they arrived at UA, All Might led Izuku through the empty campus to a place called Training Ground Theta.

"Woah, it's huge," Izuku said as he marveled at what was essentially a city surrounded by a giant concrete wall. "Nothing less than the best from UA."

"Indeed, we strive to give our students the best education possible," a new voice said, it was high and squeaky yet refined and intelligent. Izuku looked around, and his eyes widened at the source. It was an animal with white fur that looked like a combination between a bear, a mouse, and a dog. They stood on two legs and came up to Izuku's hip in height. They wore a white shirt under a dark blue vest with golden buttons, matching pants, a red tie, and brown shoes. "These training grounds are part of why UA produces the most exemplary heroes in all of Japan. When it comes to our students, we spare no expense."

Izuku stared at the white animal in shock.

"My goodness, how rude of me," the newcomer said. "My name is Nezu, I'm the principal of UA High."

"The- THE PRINCIPAL!" Izuku blurted out in shock.

Nezu ignored the green-haired boy's outburst and turned to All Might. "All Might, it's good to see you. You're looking well."

"Thank you, sir," All Might said. "And your coat is looking exceptionally shiny today."

"Thank you," the principal said before looking back to Izuku. "And I assume this is your successor?"

"That's right." He gave his protégé a small nudge. "Go on, introduce yourself."

"R-right," Izuku stammered. "Hello, Mr. Principal Nezu, sir! My name is Izuku Midoriya, and it's an honor to meet you. Thank you for letting me train here today." He gave Nezu a deep bow, though the principal was more amused than anything else.

"Quite energetic, isn't he?" Principal Nezu said to All Might, who nodded in agreement. "It's quite nice to meet you as well. Now, all we're missing is Recovery Girl."

"I'm here, I'm here," Recovery Girl said, walking up to the group. "Honestly, making old lady show up so early on her day off. You're horrible." She looked up at Izuku and smiled. "Not you, Midoriya, I'm glad to see you. How was your Christmas?"

"It was good," Izuku said. "We couldn't get any KFC, so my mom cooked homemade fried chicken*, and it was amazing. My mom got me a couple new video games, and my dad sent me this really cool figurine of this British hero called Excalibur."

 **[*In Japan, it's very popular to get KFC for Christmas dinner; they even sell special Christmas meals the can sell for hundreds of dollars. People often place specials orders for KFC weeks or months in advance.]**

"How nice," Recovery Girl said. "Anyway, I suppose we should get started."

Principal Nezu nodded. "Of course." He pulled out a remote control from his pocket. At the press of a button, the massive gates to Ground Theta opened to reveal a gargantuan mock city. Izuku stood in awe as the rest walked forward into Ground Theta. "Well, aren't you coming?" Principal Neza asked.

"R-right," Izuku said. "Sorry, just a little shocked." The boy looked at the principal, and a thought crossed his mind. "By the way, aren't you cold, Principal Nezu?"

"Not at all," the snowy-furred principal replied. "During the winter, my coat grows a special insulating layer of fur that keeps me nice and toasty."

"It also means he keeps his office freezing cold," Recovery Girl interjected as they kept walking. "He refuses to turn on the heat so doesn't overheat, and we all have to wear winter coats whenever we go in. Not to mention, he starts shedding when spring rolls around. The stuff gets everywhere, and it's a pain to clean."

"You do realize I could fire you if I wanted," Principal Nezu said.

"And you know the school would shut down if you did," Recovery Girl retorted.

The principal smiled. "Fair point."

"Alright, we're here," All Might said. Izuku looked up and nearly gasped. At the mock city's central plaza was a giant square concrete wall rising from the earth. It was at least 5 meters tall, just as wide and a meter thick. Looking beyond it, there were at least a dozen more walls of the same size and shape extending down the street in a neat row.

"What the- why are these here?" Izuku asked.

"I asked Cementoss to make them before he left," Principal Nezu said.

"Okay, but why did you ask him to make them?"

"Because, Young Midoriya," All Might said. "You're going to break these walls."

"WHAT!?" Izuku screamed. "But I've never used One for All before, how am I supposed to break one of these things? Each wall's got to be at least 10 tonnes of concrete."

"Actually, each wall is precisely 31 tonnes," Principal Nezu interjected. Izuku felt his soul slowly rise from his body.

"Ha ha ha!" All Might burst in laughs as he shifted into his muscle form. "Have no fear, Young Midoriya." He gave his protégé a firm pat on the back that nearly sent Izuku tumbling forward. "You've busted through walls before, and these will be no different." He looked at Izuku and gave a bright smile. "All you have to do clench your butt cheeks and yell "SMASH" from the depths of your heart." Gazing at his mentor, Izuku gave a confident smile and nodded.

Recovery Girl eyed them suspiciously. "Hold on-"

"Excellent," Principal Nezu said as he pressed a button on his remote. On the other side of the plaza, a large transparent barrier rose from the ground. "We'll be behind that shield observing your progress."

Recovery Girl frowned. "All Might, did you-"

"Alright then," All Might said as he picked up the principal and Recovery Girl. "Let's leave the boy to his training. Good luck, Young Midoriya." He sped behind the barrier before Recovery Girl could say anything.

"Right!" Izuku excitedly exclaimed before turning to face the wall. When they got behind the barrier, All Might let Principal Nezu and Recovery Girl down and deflated.

"All Might," Recovery Girl said, her voice low and dangerous. The blond man went stiff. "Did you tell him?"

All Might swallowed nervously. "Tell who what?"

Recovery Girl's eyes narrowed. "Did you tell Midoriya about One for All's recoil?"

"Well, uh, the thing is," All Might sputtered as he rubbed the back his neck. "I didn't want to make him nervous, so…no."

"In any case, it's too late now," Principal Nezu said with the same cheery smile on his face. "All we can do is hope the damage isn't too bad."

Izuku stood in front of the concrete wall, feet firmly planted on the ground. 'Clench my butt cheeks and yell "SMASH" from the depth of my heart,' he thought as he intently stared at the wall. 'I can do this.' He took a deep breath, pulled back his arm, and clenched his butt cheeks as hard as he could.

Welling with determination, Izuku's fist flew forwards, and that top of his lungs, he yelled, "Smash!" His fist hit the wall… but instead of him breaking the concrete, it felt like the concrete broke him.

"OW!" Izuku screamed as he reeled back pain. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! Damn it, that hurts!" He looked down at his throbbing hand. Being careful not to overdo it, Izuku activated a healing aura around his hand. After a moment, the pain subsided.

"Are you okay?" All Might called out.

"I'm fine," Izuku replied. "Just warming up." He let out a nervous laugh. All Might gave Izuku a thumbs up and went back behind the barrier. Izuku took a gummy from his hip bag and popped it in his mouth. Recovery Girl had thankfully fixed the recipe, and the gummies now tasted like mixed citrus fruits instead of hot garbage.

'Okay, maybe I took what Mr. Yagi said a bit too literally,' Izuku thought as he chewed the gummy. 'This isn't a manga or anime; I can't just activate One for All with a magic word. I need to try feeling it out and visualizing it like I did with Mending Corona.' Taking slow, deep breaths, Izuku closed his eyes and concentrated on feeling for One for All's energy within him.

First, he found his natural-born Quirk and examined its energy. Mending Corona was like a reservoir of water, still and calm but ready to be harnessed at a moment's notice. The most difficult part was controlling the metaphorical flood gates and directing the water. Next was trying to sense the energy of One for All. It was hard to describe the process; it was almost like trying to find something in the dark just using your hands. Izuku wasn't quite sure what he was looking for, but he was-

THERE! He'd found it!

Izuku wanted to jump for joy but decided to save his excitement for and focused back on examining One for All. It pulsed and burned with vibrant energy like a star, massively powerful but strangely warm and comforting. The way One for All thrummed inside his chest felt like a second heartbeat, almost as if it were alive.

As all of this was going on, All Might, Recovery Girl, and Principal Nezu watched as Izuku had gone oddly still. He'd closed his eyes and hadn't moved an inch almost 10 minutes. "Should we do something?" All Might asked.

"Let's give it a minute," Principal Nezu said.

'Okay, I've got this,' Izuku thought. Taking a deep breath and getting back into position, he pulled back arm and concentrated. He could feel One for All pulsing inside of him, the energy waiting to be harnessed. 'Visualize it, clench my butt cheeks, and yell-'

"SMASH!" Izuku roared, feeling the energy flow through his arm like liquid fire. His fist flew forward and decimated the wall and all the walls behind. Great gusts of wind whipped through the mock city's streets, shattering windows and tearing up anything that wasn't bound to the ground along with many things that were.

All Might, Recovery Girl, and Principal Nezu watched in awe, thankful for the shield protecting them.

"Holy shit," All Might said, a smile forming on his face. "That was incredible, Young Midoriya, you really-"

"AAAHHHHHH!" The three adults were interrupted by Izuku's eardrum-shattering screams of pain. "OH MY FUCKING GOD! THIS HURTS SO MUCH!" He fell to the ground, clutching his arm in pain and still screaming. "WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!? AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

All Might stared at Izuku while Recovery Girl leveled him a glare. "You should have told him," she said, tightly gripping her cane.

"I… I didn't think it would be this bad," All Might said.

"We should get him to the infirmary," Nezu said.

"R-right." All Might shifted into his muscle form and picked up Recovery Girl, Nezu, and the screaming Midoriya sprinted to the UA infirmary.

* * *

"Hey, how are you doing?" All Might said, once again deflated. He sat next to the bed; his protégé was laying on with a look of concern on his face.

"Tired, but at least my arm isn't broken," Izuku said, thankful for Recovery Girl fixing his arm. "What happened back there? I remember using One for All and then pain."

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting the backlash to be that bad."

"What do you mean?" Izuku asked. All Might froze. "Did you know that was going to happen?" The tall man opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"He did, and he should have told you," Recovery Girl said, scowling at the blond man. All Might shrank into himself, although it didn't do much, considering he was over six feet tall. "What on Earth compelled you to keep this a secret from him!" She gave All Might a swift caning to the top of his head.

"OW! Will you quit that; you're going to give me brain damage one of these days!" All Might said as he rubbed his sore spot. He sighed, and his look of pain was replaced by one of guilt. "But she is right, Young Midoriya. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to use One for All if you knew it might hurt you, but I should have been honest with you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I mean it all worked out in the end right," Izuku said. "But you also said you were surprised by how bad it was, what did you mean by that?"

"To be honest, the only reason I thought it might happen is that my master told me about it," All Might explained. "For some reason, I was able to wield One for All at 100% with no backlash right off the bat. I still remember the look on her face when it happened." He laughed at the memory of her dumbstruck expression as he effortlessly did the thing it took her years to master. "I figured you'd be a little sore or bruised, but that was terrifying."

Izuku shivered. "I know what you mean. But now that I know what to expect, I can be prepared to heal my arm next time I use One for All."

"Oh no, you don't!" Recovery Girl yelled. "I forbid you from healing your arm after using One for All!"

"What the- why the hell not," All Might said. "You've been training him to get a better handle on his Quirk, and now you're telling him not to use it."

"I'm confused, too," Izuku said. "I've already had a ton of experience fixing other peoples' broken bones, so why not my own?"

Recovery Girl sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Before I healed your arm, I took some X-Rays." She walked over her desk and grabbed a pencil. "This is a normal broken arm." She snapped the pencil in half. "And this," she said as she reached under her desk and grabbed her paper shredder "was your arm." She dumped the contents of shredder's bin onto the floor, hundreds of tiny square bits of paper, as Izuku and All Might watched. "You turned the inside of your arm into confetti. If you tried to fix it, you'd likely pass out; not to mention any number of horrible complications that could have arisen from your lack of experience. Am I making myself clear?"

"Crystal," master and protégé said in unison.

"Good news," Principal Nezu said as he opened the door. "Cementoss and Power Loader agreed to come in and clean up Ground Theta. Will you bring Midoriya back tomorrow, All Might?"

"Um, I mean if he feels up to," All Might said.

"Yeah, I can do tomorrow," Izuku said.

"I see." Principal Nezu looked around and saw the pile of shredded paper. "What happened here?"

"Just trying to get something through their thick skulls," Recovery Girl said as she pointed her cane at master and protégé.

* * *

After Recovery Girl's lecture, All Might decided to take Izuku to Ginko's for lunch. "Feeling better, Young Midoriya?" All Might asked. Izuku gave an enthusiastic nod as he chewed a mouthful of fries. "That's good to know." The blond man glanced around to make sure no one was listening in. "I was hoping to discuss your training. Now that you've some time to think about, what was it like using One for All?"

"Well, it hurt a lot," Izuku said.

"No, I mean the rush, what it felt to fire on all cylinders," All Might said. "How it felt to have all that energy coursing through your body."

"It was different from Mending Corona but also kind of the same," Izuku said as he racked his brain. "I mean they both channel energy, but the energy _feels_ different. Mending Corona is all 'fwoo' and 'whaa' and 'ooh,' but One for All feels more like 'whoosh,' 'kapow,' 'blam,' and 'zap' kind of thing."

"I see, that makes a lot of sense."

"Really?"

"Nope. I've got no clue what you're talking about, kid," All Might said bluntly. "But those were some cool sound effects."

"I guess it's a little too abstract. Maybe a better way is—oh, I think I've got it." Izuku's eyes lit up. "Mending Corona is like turning a faucet on and off, and One for All is like cooking an egg the microwave!"

All Might laughed. "That's pretty weird, but whatever floats your boat. If One for All is like an egg in a microwave, try lowering the wattage or shortening the cooking time. I wish I could be more helpful, but I don't really know what advice to give you."

"It's alright, it's not your fault you were a natural."

"Guess you're right, but I'm sure you'll get it before the Entrance Exam. You're a bright kid, and if those notebooks are anything to go by, you'll have it figured out in no time. Just try to feel your way through it, don't force it, or the egg will blow up again."

"Got it," Izuku said with a smile.

* * *

The next day of training was—unfortunately—a repeat of the first.

"The egg exploded," Izuku said, laying UA's infirmary.

"What?" Recovery Girl asked.

"I'm an egg; One for All is a microwave."

"I see." Recovery Girl looked over at a nervous All Might.

"D-don't worry, he'll get the hang of it in no time," All Might said. "After all, third times the charm."

* * *

The third time wasn't the charm.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Egg?" Recovery Girl asked, sitting next to Izuku's bed in the infirmary.

"Cracked," Izuku said.

"Well, it's like they always say: no pain, no gain," All Might said, although it looked like he wasn't very convinced by his own words.

"Good thing I asked Cementoss to make extra sets of walls," Nezu said as he sipped on a cup of tea. "He won't have to come back after each training session."

"Yes, but he and Power Loader won't be happy when they see all they have to clean up after the break," Recovery Girl said. "Speaking of, what sort of cover story did you give them?"

"Something just cryptic enough to keep them from asking more questions," Nezu said. "All Might, are you sure he'll get a hold of One for All before the end of Winter Break?"

"Of course he will," All Might exclaimed. "He's just gotta feel it! Young Midoriya will be throwing out Smashes in no time." A bead of nervous sweat ran down his forehead.

"I really appreciate your faith in me, but I don't think this is working," Izuku said. "Isn't there anything else we could try?"

All thought for a moment, wracking his brain for a new training method. 'I hate to say it, but this does feel like we're bashing our heads against a brick wall. Nana never needed to teach me how to handle One for All, and now I don't know how to teach Young Midoriya.' His eyebrows scrunched together. 'Maybe I should call _him_.' As soon as the idea crossed his mind, All Might started shaking. 'No way! If I bring him into this, who knows what he'll do Young Midoriya and me.'

"L-l-let's not be too hasty about this," All Might said. "We haven't been doing this for that long; how about we give one more shot before we try something new?"

"Okay, Mr. Yagi," Izuku said, confident in this mentor's judgment. Recovery Girl and Principal Nezu eyed All Might suspiciously but decided not to say anything.

* * *

"Hey, mom, I'm home," Izuku called out as he walked through the door.

"Hi, sweaty," Inko said from the kitchen. "How was work?"

"Oh, it was fine. Just normal stuff." Izuku wandered into the living room after taking off his shoes. "How was your day?"

"Interesting, I ran into that Yamada boy's mother at the grocery store. She felt absolutely awful about what happened and wanted me to tell you how sorry she and her husband are." Izuku sat down to listen as he munched on an energy bar. "They decided to send him to a boarding school up in Rikubetsu as punishment."

Izuku perked up when he heard the city's name. "Isn't Rikubetsu one of the coldest places in the country?"

"If it is then it serves him right, the little monster deserves to freeze his butt off," Inko said as she brought her knife down with a loud 'thunk.' "Anyways, I ended up having a really nice conversation with her while we shopped. There is one thing she said found particularly _interesting_." Izuku stiffened. Inko turned around to stare right at her son. "Apparently, you once broke your finger _on purpose_ to try and activate your Quirk."

Izuku nervously swallowed. "Uh, my bad."

Inko sighed. "I suppose there's no point in scolding you now, I'm just glad it worked. But I don't want you breaking any more bones on purpose, okay?"

"Okay," Izuku said. As Inko went back to cooking, a lightbulb went off in her son's mind.

'That's it!' he thought. If Inko had seen the glint in his eyes, she would have stopped whatever nonsense he was planning.

Much to the chagrin of everyone, she did not.

* * *

Once more, Izuku stood in front of a line of massive concrete walls while All Might, Recovery Girl, and Principal Nezu observed him from behind a protective barrier.

"He seemed rather confident this morning," Nezu said.

"Young Midoriya said he had an epiphany last night," All Might said.

"Let's hope so, I'm not keen on fixing him up again," Recovery Girl said as she watched Izuku, waiting for something to go wrong.

"Me either," All Might said.

'Come on, kid, show me what you've got,' All Might thought. 'If you don't, I'll have to call him.' Even if he could admit that training Izuku was more difficult than he thought, the last All Might wanted to do was ask for help. Especially for _him_.

'Let's do this,' Izuku thought. He raised his arm, but rather than forming a fist and pulling it back, he pulled back his middle finger and held it in place with his thumb, as if about to flick something. He held it steady with his other arm as the others looked on.

But before they could wonder what he was doing, it happened.

"SMASH!" The walls were demolished. Debris went flying, carried by the furious winds down the street. As the dusted settled, All Might finally got a good look at Izuku and saw-

"It's not broken!" All Might yelled. "WAHOO! He did it!" He muscled up and sprinted over to his apprentice. "Young Midoriya, I'm so freaking proud of you! I knew you could do it." He embraced Izuku in a great big bear hug.

"Thank you, Mr. Yagi," Izuku said with a smile. "But could you let me down, it's getting hard to breathe."

"Oh, sorry." He let Izuku down and gave him a pat on the head. "I knew you had it in you, Young Midoriya. Once again, you've exceeded my expectations and shown yourself worthy of being my successor."

"Y-you don't have to go that far," Izuku said with a furious blush. "I still don't have full control of One for All."

"What are you talking about? Your arm's in one piece."

"Well, sort of." Izuku sheepishly held up his arm to reveal a very bruised and very broken finger.

All Might deflated. "What?"

* * *

Once they got back to the infirmary, Izuku explained how he'd gotten the idea to channel into a single finger rather than his whole arm. He was quite proud of himself, and despite his initial shock, so was All Might.

"Quite the clever protégé you've got on your hands," Principal Nezu said. "Taking a past mistake and using it his advantage, that's a quality of a great student."

"I won't say I'm not impressed and happy for you, but I'm still not keen on the idea of you injuring yourself," Recovery Girl said. "Still, I suppose minimizing the damage is the best you could right now. Good job."

"Th-thanks," Izuku said, sitting on the bed. "Part of it was desperation; I only had a few more chances to practice, so I had to start thinking outside the box." He turned to Recovery Girl. "There's something I wanted to ask. I know you said not to fix my arm after using One for All, but would it be alright if I fixed my finger." Recovery Girl narrowed her eyes. Izuku felt the room grow much cooler. "I-i-it's just that it would take a lot less energy than healing my and it would make me a lot more viable in combat, plus-"

"I'll think about it," she said. "For now, I'll fix your finger and, if you're feeling up to it, you can get back out there. Hopefully, you'll have figured out how not to break your bones before the Entrance Exam."

"Th-thank you so much, Recovery Girl." Izuku got up and gave her an appreciative bow. "And I will try my hardest to control One for All."

As Recovery Girl and Izuku discussed the subject further, All Might was just relieved that his protégé had made progress. 'That means I don't have to call _him_ ,' he thought.

After a successful day of training with One for All and delicious dinner from his mom, Izuku was more than ready for bed. He went to bed in a pair of new All Might pajamas—a gift from his mom, which he adored—feeling confident in his ability to wield One for All. UA's Entrance Exam was less than two months away, so far away yet so soon. It was day Izuku was both dreading and excited for. As he slowly drifted off to sleep under his All Might blanket, Izuku felt thankful for all he had.

But unbeknownst to Izuku or All Might, they were not the only ones training.

* * *

Pain.

The pain was the entirety of Hinata Abe's existence. It had been this way ever since she and her boyfriend had gone to that bar. Ever since they'd met the others. Ever since they'd met that monster.

"What's wrong?" the monster's oh-so human-sounding voice drifted through the air. "We're not done training; you need to get up."

"I…can't," Hinata said, her voice hoarse and rough. She lay on the cold, hard, dirty concrete floor. How easy it would be to close her eyes and fall asleep. "No more…please. Too much…pain." She looked up at the monster, begging and pleading with her eyes for it to have mercy on them.

The room fell deathly silent. It stared at her— _how can something with no eyes stare?_ —and sighed. "I understand. We can stop the training, stop the pain."

A spark of hope ignited in Hinata's chest. "Really?"

It smiled at her. "Of course, I'll need that power I gave you."

The spark died. "What?"

"If you don't want to go through with this, that's fine, I told you all you could stop at any time, but you'd need to return what I gave you."

"No, please, no!" Hinata desperately screamed as she forced herself to rise. "Don't take it away from me, I need it. I can't go back to the way I was before."

"I'm sorry, but if you can't continue training, I can't let you keep it," the monster said. "After all, no pain, no gain."

Hinata looked around at the broken, crumpled bodies of her 'teammates' as he'd called them and finally saw her beloved Kuro. She saw the slow rise and fall of their chests. They were alive, but in just as much pain as her. Pain so horrible they would gladly welcome the reaper.

But…

"I'll do it. I'll keep training!" Hinata said. "Just don't make me go back to being Quirkless!"

The monster smiled. "That's the spirit!" Red lighting crackled around its finger. "Let's not waste any more time."

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Well, this took a lot longer than expected, but, hey, better late than never.**

 **If you didn't read the AN at the beginning, I'm going to go back and change all the previous chapters to the narration refers to Toshinori Yagi as "All Might," and Izuku always call him "Mr. Yagi" before I post the next chapter.**

 **Also, fun fact, I started writing this months ago, but due to real-life stuff, it ended up getting delayed until now. I happy coincidence I suppose.**

 **The next chapter is the Entrance Exam, which actually takes place in late February. Hopefully, the next chapter will be published before then.**


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